Catherine Richards (born August 4, 1947) is a Canadian visual artist who uses information technologies and electronic media in mixed-media installations and performances. Her work centers on the "archaeology" of media, and explores ideas such as virtuality, electronic media as metaphor, and the "separation of the senses". Richards also investigates the boundaries of the human body and its volatility, particularly in relation to electromagnetic fields, with networked technologies rendering these boundaries increasingly permeable and uncertain. Her work makes visible the invisible infrastructures surrounding contemporary bodies, from wireless signals to high-voltage currents.
Richards' practice is rooted in collaborative, interdisciplinary projects that investigate the relationship between the human body and technology. Her work addresses themes such as perception, immersion, and isolation. Richards has been identified as one of the first artists in Canada to work with virtual reality.
Her practice is informed by early influences in media theory, philosophies of technology, and the ways that the body is visualized through scientific metaphors. She is influenced by Marshall McLuhan (and his use of William Blake's philosophy on technology and the senses), Harold Innis, and George Grant. Paul Virilio's writing on the philosophy of technology and aesthetics has also played a role, along with the work of Jean Baudrillard and Gilles Deleuze. Richards notes the historical Russian avant-garde as an influence.
Education Born and raised in Ottawa, Catherine Richards earned a B.A. (Honours) in English from York University in 1971 and a B.A. (Honours) in Visual Arts from the University of Ottawa in 1980. In 1997, she was granted doctoral equivalency by the University of Ottawa under Article 23.4.2.3.
Practice Richards' practice is rooted in collaborative projects that bring together interdisciplinary teams to investigate the human body in relation to science and technology. She is concerned with agency and connection, as well as immersion and isolation. Richards also explores human emotions, attempting to model the slippage between physiology and emotions in her work.
Her practice is informed by her earliest influences in media theory, philosophies of technology, the technologized body, and early concepts of posthumanism. The philosophical grounding of her work draws on the scholarship of Marshall McLuhan, Harold Innis, and George Grant. During her tenure with the Canadian Government, she worked in various positions at the Canadian Radio and Television Commission, Federal Department of Communications, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, providing access to some of the earliest developments in computer graphics. She also worked with the National Film Board of Canada under the leadership of Pierre Trudeau. Paul Virilio's writing on the philosophy of technology and aesthetics played a role in her practice.
Notable works
Curiosity Cabinet at the End of the Millennium Curiosity Cabinet at the End of the Millennium (1995) inverts the historical logic of the curiosity cabinet, transforming the viewing subject into the viewed object. The participant climbs inside and closes the door, completing a circuit that transforms the cabinet into what Richards terms a 'safe house', a Faraday cage that conducts radio frequencies, microwaves, television signals, cellular transmissions, and other elements of the upper RF spectrum through its copper surfaces and into the earth via a thick braided ground wire. Inside, the participant becomes simultaneously protected and displayed: visible through the copper screening to outside viewers, yet electromagnetically isolated, unplugged from human-generated frequencies. Charged Hearts Charged Hearts (1997) consists of three principal types of objects: the central Terrella orb, two anatomically correct glass hearts, and an online game. The Terrella orb contains phosphorescent charged gases, alluding to the original use in the nineteenth century to replicate Aurora Borealis, while also simulating the Earth’s magnetic poles. Within the Terrella is a cathode ray, the technological basis for television and computer screens. The pair of glass hearts glow within their bell jars (themselves vessels that allow observation), being electrically charged by the Terrella. For viewers to safely handle the hearts and lift them up, the organs are encased in glass and loosely tethered by a copper coil at their bases. Embracing the domes evokes changes in the Terrella and hearts, prompting pulsations in light intensity, as viewers become material participants in the electrical current. The glass hearts are charged both literally and figuratively; the human heart remains the symbolic seat of emotions and is also a very real electromagnetic field. The excited electrons flutter and pulse within the vacuum sealed hearts and activate changes in the Terrella. When touched, a shadowy heart appears in the phosphorescent gases." Exhibitions Solo exhibitions Source unless otherwise cited:
2014
When Objects Have Agency. Open Gallery, OCADU. Toronto, Ontario. Objects That Make Us. The Manitoba Museum. Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2007
Health Care, Technologies and Places (HTCP): Contributions and Provocations from Humanists and Artists. University of Toronto. Toronto, Ontario.
2000
Excitable Tissues. Ottawa Art Gallery. Ottawa, Ontario. Art, Science, and Creativity. National Research Council of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario. Creativity 2000. National Research Council of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario.
1999
Curiosities. Dunlop Art Gallery. Regina, Saskatchewan.
1998
Charged Hearts. Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Wayne State University. Detroit, Michigan. Charged Hearts. Powerplant Gallery. Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario.
1997
Charged Hearts. Commissioned, National Gallery of Canada. Ottawa, Ontario.
1980
Sites. Warehouse Wellington Street. Montreal, Quebec.
c1970s
Closed Circuit Pieces. Pestalozzi College. Ottawa, Ontario.
Group Exhibitions Source unless otherwise cited:
2024
Art School Confidential. Ottawa Art Gallery. Ottawa, Ontario.
2019
24/7. Somerset House. London, UK. Carbon and Light. Ottawa Art Gallery. Ottawa, Ontario.
2018
Àdisòkàmagan / Nous connaître un peu nous-mêmes / We'll all become stories. Ottawa Art Gallery. Ottawa, Ontario.
2017
Corpus. New Media Gallery. Vancouver, British Columbia. Great and North. Istituto Veneto Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. Venice, Italy.
2016
The Body Electric. Virtual Exhibition. Royal College of Physicians and International Conference on Residency Education. Hybrid Bodies. Kunstkraftwerk. Leipzig, Germany.
2015
The Age of Catastrophe. Actual Contemporary & Video Pool Media Arts Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Hearts and Minds. Hannah Maclure Centre, University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland. Flesh of the World. Doris McCarthy Gallery. Toronto, Ontario.
2014
Still Lives. PHI Centre, Montreal, PQ.
2013
Transitio_MX 05 Biomediaciones. New Media Art and Video Festival. Mexico City, Mexico. Patent Pending. ZERO1 Garage. San Jose, California. Heart of the Moment: Selections from the Permanent Collection. 25th Anniversary. Ottawa Art Gallery. Ottawa, Ontario. Hybrid Bodies. PHI, Concordia University, Montreal, PQ. 2012 SPLICE: At the Intersection of Art & Medicine. Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Art Centre, Toronto, Ontario. L'intrus. YYZ Gallery, Toronto, Ontario. Mirror Neurons: AV Festival. The National Glass Centre, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, UK.
2010
PROTOTYPE, Electric Fields: Festival of Electronic Art and Sound. Karsh-Masson Gallery. Ottawa, Ontario.
2008
SPECTROPIA. 10th International Festival for New Media Culture, Art+Communications. Riga City Exhibition Hall. Riga, Latvia. Imagining Science: An Exploration of Science, Society and Social Change. Art Gallery of Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta.
2007
e-art, Les vases communicants. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Montreal, Quebec. Global Eyes. ACM SIGGRAPH. San Diego, California. Science in Art. Virtual exhibition Galerie de l'UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal) Virtual Museum of Canada.
2006
Resonance: The Electromagnetic Bodies Project. V2/TENT. Rotterdam, Netherlands. Resonance: The Electromagnetic Bodies Project. Ludwig Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art. Budapest, Hungary. Resonance: The Electromagnetic Bodies Project. Centro Cultural Conde Duque Medialab. Madrid, Spain. Resonance: The Electromagnetic Bodies Project. Maison européenne de la photographie (MEP). Paris, France.
2005
Resonance: The Electromagnetic Bodies Project. ZKM: Center for Art and Media. Karlsruhe, Germany. Resonance: The Electromagnetic Bodies Project. Oboro. Montreal, Quebec. Digital Discourse. St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity. Valletta, Malta. The Art Formally Known as New Media. Walter Phillips Gallery. The Banff Centre for the Arts. Banff, Alberta.
2004
As yet unnameable. Bard College. Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Sydney Biennale 2004. Sydney, Australia.
2000
Engaging the Virtual. Dalhousie Art Gallery. Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1998
Aurora. Interaccess Gallery. Toronto, Ontario. Cyber Heart. Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts. Banff, Alberta.
1995
Curiosity Cabinet, at the End of the Millennium. International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA), Montreal, Quebec. Self Determination / Body Politic. Gemeentemuseum. Arnhem, Holland. Time, Space and Realities. A Space Gallery. Toronto, Ontario.
1994
The Body Obsolete. SAW Gallery. Ottawa, Ontario. Arte Virtual. Metro Opera. Madrid, Spain. 15 years of Ars Electronica. Landesgalerie, Museum of Contemporary Art. Linz, Austria. The Virtual Body. The International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA). Helsinki, Finland.
1993
State of the Image. Eldorado Museum. Antwerp, Belgium. Teckno Viscera. Institute of Modern Art. Fortitude Valley, Australia.
1981
Circuit + -. Galerie Motivation Cinq. Montreal, Quebec.
1979
Recent Work and Work in Progress. SAW Gallery. Ottawa, Ontario.
1973
Multi-monitor Installations and Performance pieces. First Women and Film International Festival. Ottawa, Ontario.
Selected publications by the artist
"Hearts and Agency." Jill Scott (ed) TRANSDISCOURSE 3: Gender in Art, Science and Body Politics. Vienna: De Gruyter, 2019. "Hybrid Bodies: Rethinking Heart Transplantation." The Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University. (Montreal, Quebec) pp 40–49, 2016. "Excitable Tissues and Virtual Worlds: Art, Science, and Technology". Inno'va-tion: Essays by Leading Canadian Researchers. (Canadian Foundation for Innovation, 2002) www.innovation.ca Republished: Judith Miller (ed), Reading & Writing Canada. (New York: W.W. Norton & Company). Approximately pp 4, 2005. "Tactical Zones: Collapse of the Visual". Cartographies: The General Assembly on New Media Art / Cartographies: Les États généraux de nouveau médias: Conference Proceedings. Montreal: Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts / L'Inter-Société des arts électroniques. 2000. "Body Boundaries". Paul Hertz (ed). YLEM.19.2, Jan/Feb. pp 15–24, 1999. "Fungal Intimacy: The Cyborg Trope in Feminism and Media Art." in Lyn Hershman Leeson (ed), Clicking In: Hot Links to a Digital Culture. (San Francisco: Bay Press) pp 258–263, 1996. "It's Déjà Vu All Over Again: Virtual Reality." Canadas. (New York: Semiotext(e)) pp 264–267, 1994. "Virtual Bodies: What a Blow that Phantom Gave Me". Angles of Incidence: reflections of multimedia artworks. Proceedings of the Multimedia Communications '93 Conference, International Council or Computer Communications, Banff, April, 1993. Banff: Media Arts Program – Banff Centre for the Arts, pp 15–22, 1993. Richards, Catherine and Nell Tenhaaf eds. Virtual Seminar on the Bioapparatus. Banff Centre for the Arts, 120 pp, 1991.