Marisa Olson's work combines performance, video, drawing & installation to address the cultural history of technology, the politics of participation in pop culture & the aesthetics of failure, all of which she will be addressing in her lecture.
Her “Time Capsules” series of sculptures, often exhibited in site-specific assemblages resembling landfills or garbage piles, are endangered units of time otherwise destined for burial, but instead rescued, taken out of circulation, and painted gold (Fort Knox-style) in reclamation of their value. The Time Capsules series has led to a broader body of work revolving around the pollution produced in the wake of upgrade culture.
“Assisted Living,” video and performance is a futuristic parody of Martha Stewart's TV show focused on coping with the health & environmental challenges of living a life prolonged and polluted by technology. As hostess, she devised craft projects and recipes for these 150-year-olds, taping the show on-site before a "live studio audience." The show was incubated at Wooloo's New Life Berlin Festival.
Olson’s extensive exhibition list includes the following: the Whitney Museum of American Art, Centre Pompidou-Paris, New Museum of Contemporary Art, 52nd International Biennale di Venezia, National Museum of Contemporary Art (Athens, Greece), Edith Russ-Haus fur Medienkunst, Nederlands Instituut voor Mediakunst/ Montevideo, the British Film Institute, the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, the Sundance Film Festival, and elsewhere.
