Allen’s early work with computers often centered on explorations of human motion, with an interest in bringing humanity into the computer through a feminine perspective and female form. In this historical work, Rebecca worked with the first-ever 3D computer model of a female body and set about bringing it to life. Working with the inventors of today’s computer graphics and animation software, Allen took on the difficult task of getting the frozen human form to come alive; gradually, slowly, developing methods to allow a virtual body to move.
As an avid swimmer, Allen identified with the elegant, fluid motions of underwater swimming and understood that, like the ocean, the vast virtual world doesn’t follow the rules of gravity that bind us humans. The virtual world was empty then. Swimmer was one of the earliest examples of computer animation of a human form. We watch as the figure immerses herself in the vast abyss of virtual reality that is pulling us all in now.
Rebecca Allen (b. 1953) is an internationally recognized artist inspired by the aesthetics of motion, the study of perception and behavior and the potential of advanced technology. Her work, which spans over four decades and takes the form of experimental video, large-scale performances, live simulations and virtual and augmented reality installations, addresses issues of identity, gender and what it means to be human as technology redefines our sense of reality. With degrees from Rhode Island School of Design and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Allen moves fluidly between artist studio and research lab, using her research to inform her art. Her early interest in utilizing the computer as an artistic tool led to her pioneering work involving human motion simulation, artificial life algorithms and other generative techniques for art creation.
Allen’s work is part of the permanent collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, among others. Recent solo and group exhibitions have been staged at MEET Digital Culture Center (2021), Milan; Arcade (2020-2021), Gazelli Art House (2020) and the Zabludowicz Collection (2019), London; QUAD, Derby (2019); Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) (2019), Liverpool; Whitney Museum of American Art (2018), New York; DAM Gallery (2018), Berlin; and Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) (2018), Montreal. She has extended her practice into collaborative projects with artists of various disciplines such as Peter Gabriel, La Fura dels Baus, Nam June Paik and Kraftwerk. Her videos for the latter continue to tour the world as part of Kraftwerk: The Catalogue 12345678 (2011-ongoing). Allen lives and works in Los Angeles.