| bio | cv | links |
| Cyane Rollins Tornatzky | |||
| Art, Science & Technology | |||
 An Aesthetic Look at Cell Lines (2005) C-prints, size variable Taking a class in City College of San Francisco’s biotechnology department, I explored the beautiful and varied aesthetics of the laboratory. These prints are the result of photos taken through the microscope and in the Lab. |
 Making the Micro Macro (2005) Mixed Media Drawn on "rice" are two microscopic images: one of the double stranded helix, the other a bacteriophage. By taking images from the microscopic world of science and making them visible to the human eye, I am examining our surrounding environment of wonder. |
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 Innate Differences (2005) B&W DV 1m 30 sec This experimental video created in response to Harvard President Larry Summer's statement that perhaps there are fewer women in science due to "innate differences" that make women less capable. My response piece asks us to examine what we expect scientists to look like? The video Innate Differences also marks the first appearance of the Home Scientist. |
 DIY Scientist: Swab, Positive & Levels (2006-2007) Color DV 7m 20sec I am examining the sterility of the over the counter tests, the reminder that we become faceless numbers to lab techs on the other side of the world. In performing for the video work Swab, I discovered the character of the Home Scientist. The Home Scientist, in a white lab coat and safety goggles, re-appropriates the power formerly given to those in the medical establishment. |
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 Mapping of the Mitochondrial Eve (2006) Watercolor, genetic test results I traced my mother's heritage through mitochondrial DNA found only inside of human eggs. After swabbing my own DNA, I sent the results to an online genetic testing company: www.genetree.com. These results influence how I see myself and others as part of an ancient and contemporary world of multicultural trans-nationalism. This effort examines and tries to capture an inkling of the implications of modern day globalism - how quickly we move from continent to continent versus slow journey of those who went before us. |
 Flight (2006) Installation Flight is an installation charting the movement of humankind. As a modern human I am able to fly halfway across the globe in a day. Taking the expedition on an intimate route, I include a chart with key that is an extremely subjective evaluation of my visit to each far away place. Evaluating whether or not I liked the food, or whether I found the place dangerous underscores how often we are swept away with the details of the day to day, even in our exotic travels. |
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| Interactive Art | |||
 Family Tree (2004) Online Shockwave Interactive Artwork Earliest examples of my interactive work tie the concept of non-linear narrative with an interactive interface. In “Family Tree”, I have used the program Director to create a non-linear narrative that uses the operating computer’s clock and internet access to talk about concepts of ancestry, time moving forward, time running out and to tell a story in an oblique way. . |
 Her (2006) Interactive device. MAX/MSP, mixed media. This work uses a light sensor embedded in the phone to trigger the videos. The concept is that the user has stepped into an intimate scene - spying on someone who is spying on someone else. The user can step into this woman's world, but only tangentially. Similar to the fragments of narrative in Family Tree, interaction with the work Her gives the user only a glimpse of a larger story. The user is left to fill in the blanks on what this character's personal narrative is. |
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 Gender Stereop tics (2005) Interactive installation. In collaboration with Jessica Walker www.jessicawalker.net. Music by Martin Weyde. "Gender Stereoptics" combines contemporary digital processes with technologies that were cutting edge and new for their time. The work combines an archaic technology - the stereoptic viewer - with modern day interactive video. Additionally, "Gender Stereoptics" uses experimental video to create a contextual lens through which gender (as opposed to sexual) differences are often viewed. The piece forces an examination of predisposed notions questioning the classification systems used to pigeonhole gender. |
 Nostalgia (2008) Interactive hand-held device. I use a different lens to examine current day popular technology: the iPod by incorporating it into what was the popular techonology at the turn-of-the-century: the stereoscopic viewer. Through the stereoscopic lens the viewer sees performative nostalgia: people acting out scenes from their adolescence. As adolescents time seems to stand still, we are invincible. By placing these scenes in contempory and vintage toys of adolescence, I am trying to understand my own place in time. |
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 No Place like Home(2008) Interactive Installation InteractiveArt challenges viewers to transgress usual modes of spectatorship, requiring participatory exploration that runs counter to decades of art display where touching is forbidden. Instead, InteractiveArt asks viewers to experiment and volunteer part of themselves in the process. Our fears and desires for greater intimacy creates a parallel reticence to touch. How do we get past our own reflected projections to true transparency with another? |
see more images at creative.cyanowsi.com |
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