Lifeloggers Artist Stephen Cartwright presents “Self-Tracking as Artistic Process”

January 10, 2014

In conjunction with the new Carleton College art exhibit “Lifeloggers: Chronicling The Everyday,” contemporary artist Stephen Cartwright, one of the exhibit’s featured artists, will speak about “Self-tracking as artistic process” on Thursday, Jan. 16 from 5 to 6 p.m. in Boliou Hall Room 104. This event is free and open to the public.

Featuring works by twelve contemporary artists, “Lifeloggers: Chronicling The Everyday” demonstrates how these artists document their creative process and, as a result, uncover the artistic complexities of human existence. “Lifelogging” is a term used to describe the extensive archiving of one’s personal experience. We use this natural human impulse to track, map, and graph our lives—and the result is not only often used for scientific research, but also creatively animates the artistic practice.

Since 1999, Cartwright has recorded his exact latitude, longitude and elevation every hour of every day. Cartwright uses digital and traditional fabrication techniques to translate his collected data into his sculptural projects. Since the inception of the Latitude and Longitude recording project, Cartwright has completed several grand bicycle journeys through North America, Europe and Asia, totaling more than 20,000 miles. Prolonged observation of his location has led Cartwright to his recent work investigating the use and alteration of the landscape.

Cartwright received his BA from the University of California, Davis in 1996 and his MFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Philadelphia, in 1998. He has exhibited widely, including at the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH; the Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL; the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, Albuquerque, NM; D.U.M.B.O. Arts Center, Brooklyn, NY and White Columns Gallery, NYC. He is currently an Assistant Professor at The School of Art & Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. More information can be found at www.stephencartwright.com.

This event is sponsored by the Perlman Teaching Museum, with support from the Christopher U. Light Lectureship in the Arts. For more information, contact Museum Curator Laurel Bradley at (507) 222-4342. Boliou Hall is accessible via Highway 19 in Northfield.