Night Sweats: Cyberfeminist Practices intervenes in this moment of rapid biotechnological development and international political turmoil with thought-provoking, creative, and justice-oriented essays on art and life: opting out of the sludge and consent theatre presented by standard "terms and conditions"; creating plant-assisted reproductive technologies (pARTs) such as indecision trees; practicing compassionate inquiry; and becoming a cyborg-elder. Refusing the authoritarian turn and backlash against reproductive, LGBTQIA+, and racial justice movements, its authors and contributors-artists, writers, scholars, designers, activists, and educators-draw on the twenty-five years of cyberfeminist art work from the subRosa art collective, as well as Black, postcolonial, and environmental feminisms.
The overall motto of the book is "we will save ourselves," with examples taken from critical and revisionist histories of alchemy, the automation of writing systems, and reproductive mutual aid. In doing so, the authors develop new analyses of (cyber)feminist contributions to bioart, tactical media, gender, women's, and sexuality studies, media studies and communication, technoscience studies and STS, durational art, and performance studies.
Night Sweats: Cyberfeminist Practices intervenes in this moment of rapid biotechnological development and international political turmoil with thought-provoking, creative, and justice-oriented essays on art and life: opting out of the sludge and consent theatre presented by standard “terms and conditions”; creating plant-assisted reproductive technologies (pARTs) such as indecision trees; practicing compassionate inquiry; and becoming a cyborg-elder. Refusing the authoritarian turn and backlash against reproductive, LGBTQIA+, and racial justice movements, its authors and contributors—artists, writers, scholars, designers, activists, and educators—draw on the twenty-five years of cyberfeminist art work from the subRosa art collective, as well as Black, postcolonial, and environmental feminisms.
The overall motto of the book is “we will save ourselves,” with examples taken from critical and revisionist histories of alchemy, the automation of writing systems, and reproductive mutual aid. In doing so, the authors develop new analyses of (cyber)feminist contributions to bioart, tactical media, gender, women’s, and sexuality studies, media studies and communication, technoscience studies and STS, durational art, and performance studies.
Hyla Willis is an interdisciplinary artist and graphic designer, known for her work as a longtime member of the subRosa cyberfeminist art collective. She is a Professor of Media Arts at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania, USA.
Irina Aristarkhova is a scholar, writer, and Professor in the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design and the Digital Studies Institute at the University of Michigan, USA. She is author of Hospitality of the Matrix: Philosophy, Biomedicine, and Culture, among other titles.
Nathanael Elias Mengist is currently a PhD student in Learning Sciences at the University of Washington, USA. His collaborative artwork DIY Homunculi, featured on the animated video podcast "Life Touching Life," appropriates the politics of alchemy to expand how we imagine both environmental and reproductive justice.
Faith Wilding is a co-founder of subRosa, independent artist, Professor Emerita and former Chair of Performance Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA.
