Stephanie Deumer: Spooky Action at a Distance

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Stephanie Deumer, "Spooky Action at a Distance," 2019

digital video still. Courtesy of the artist.

Opening Reception: Friday, May 27th from 6PM-10PM(M:ST) *in conjunction with the opening reception for Chun Hua Catherine Dong

Spooky Action at a Distance is a video exploring the objectification of women by means of their disembodiment. The work links AI assistants that personify female identities (such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa) to a history of entertainment, mythology, labour, and technology that has consistently and progressively oppressed women through the dissolution of their bodies. By incorporating a wide range of found footage—from historical films, to magic tricks, and smart technology commercials—the imagery creates a web of insight into misogynist fantasies of the eradication of women. Overall, the work reveals how past norms are literally amplified through new technologies.

Stephanie Deumer (b.1989, Oakville, Ontario, Canada) is a visual artist currently living and working in Los Angeles, California. Her multi-media installations highlight interrelations between different kinds of reproduction—including biological, visual, mechanical, and social. More particularly, the exploration of feminine constructs is a crucial through-line in Deumer’s practice. Complexities of female identity formation figure prominently, specifically in relation to language, media, science, and technology.

Deumer holds a BA from the University of Guelph and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts. She was a fellow at the Whitney Independent Study Program in New York, and has been awarded grants from the Canada Arts Council, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and Bar-Fund LA. She has been an artist in residence at Factory Media Centre, Hamilton, Ontario (2021); Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Banff, Alberta (2018); Cerritos College, Cerritos, California, USA (2016); and The REEF, Los Angeles, California, USA (2015). Her work has been shown internationally in Canada, the United States, the UK, Ecuador, and Saudi Arabia.