CV

MARIA MENCIA PhD, artist and senior lecturer in Digital Media at Kingston University, London, UK.
Artist practitioner and academic working in digital media to create interactive installations, net.art, textual poetics and sound pieces. She holds a practice-based doctorate in Digital Poetics and Digital Art, a MA in History and Theory of Art from Chelsea College of Art, a BA in Fine Art from Camberwell College of Art, The University of the Arts-London, and an English Philology Degree from the Complutense University, Madrid, Spain. Phd title: From Visual Poetry to Digital Art: Image-Sound-Text, Convergent Media and the Development of New Media Languages.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

On going practice-led research on the area of the in- between the visual, the aural and the semantic in the creation of interactive multimedia artwork and digital poetics. It combines different cultural artistic and literary traditions such as fine art, visual, concrete and sound poetry, with digital poetics and new media theories and practices.

Two latest interactive projects developed in collaboration with the Key centre for computing and Cognition at the University of Sydney: Speech-Sound Generated Visual Poems, three distinctive discourse systems are coming together: speech, writing and code. Silence also plays a major part. Accidental Meaning: by breaking up the meanings of words, a textuality is created by random juxtaposed words. Their accidental position produce new relationships and in doing so, an going process of meanings and connections. Cityscapes: Social Poetics/Public Textualities, explores
public textualities in urban spaces, the global city and the use of the web as a creative space (AHRC funded)

FELLOWSHIPS AND ARTS RESIDENCIES

June-July 2007 Honorary Fellow, Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Australia
2005-2007 Artist in Residence, Hothouse, London Sept. 05-March06 Visiting Scholar, Research Lab, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, USA
Nov. 2005 Residency at SUNY Buffalo Electronic-Poetry Centre, USA
March-July 2005 Visiting Scholar, RMIT Melbourne, Australia
Sept-Oct 2002 Mukojima Artist in Residence Programme, Tokyo, Japan

RESEARCH GRANTS, AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

2007 2005 TIES Grant, Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Australia 2005-2006 Promising Researcher Fellowship, Kingston University, London, UK to collaborate with (MRL) Media Research Lab at New York University, USA
2005 AHRC Small Grants in the Creative and Performing Arts to develop Cityscapes: Social Poetics/ Public Textualities at the RMIT Melbourne, Australia
2000-03 AHRB (Arts & Humanities Research Board) Doctoral award
2002 AHRB fund towards study field/residency in Japan
2000 Year of the Artist Award London Arts Board awarded TAL (Community Arts Group)
1997 Arts for Everyone Lottery Fund awarded IDEA (Innovation & Development in Educational Art)
1992 Division of International Programs Abroad Syracuse University, New York, USA (Attended a semester in Video, Aesthetics, Cultural Studies, Sculpture).


PhDs EXAMINATION AND SUPERVISION

September 2006 External examiner to PhD candidate Gavin Stewart, A Homecoming Festival: The Application of the Dialogic Concepts of Addressivity and the Awareness of Participation to an Aesthetic of Computer-mediated Textual Art, University of Luton, Research Centre
Present Supervision Neil McLeod, Narrative in the margin: How can the visual qualities of the illustrator’s notebook be utilised in the production of screen based artworks? Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK.

RESEARCH OUTPUTS

Forthcoming:
April 2009 2009 Symposium on Performance, Digital Art and Literature, Karlskrona Art Gallery, Karlskrona, Sweden May
2009 e-poetry conference and festival, University Oberta de Catalunya, (UOC), Hermeneia Research Group.

EXHIBITIONS AND PAPERS
She exhibits and has performed nationally and internationally: Spain, England, Belgium, Holland, USA, Germany, Norway Cuba and Japan. She has published papers and translations and presented at national and international conferences.

Group shows & Festivals (selection since 1998)

July 2007 Wilkinson Building, University of Sydney, Australia
June 2007 eMOTion, Galerie GHP / 11, descente de la Halle aux Poissons / 31000 Toulouse, France
August 2006 FILE Digital Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil
June-July 2006 e-motive: Visual Poetry in the Digital Age, University of Essex Gallery, Colchester, UK
May 2006 CIRCA Puerto Rico 2006, First international Art Fair in the Caribbean and Central America. Curated by Elvis Fuentes.
March 2006 node-London, the Season of Media Arts, London
May 2004-Cambio Constante curated by Paco Simon from Arte en Orbita, Zaragoza, Spain.
May 2003-onedotzero Festival, ICA, London, UK
April 2003- e-Poetry Festival 2003- West Virginia University, USA
Oct. 2002- ISEA 2002 [Orai] (International Symposium of Electronic Arts), Nagoya, Japan
July 2002- Write Your Mind, Stock Newington Festival, London, UK
June 2002- IV Salon Internacional de Arte Digital, Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau, Havana, Cuba
May 2002- DIFFERENTIA, Pitshanger Manor Gallery & House, London, UK
April 2002- La Huella Multiple, Havana, Cuba
Nov. 2001-02 Interrogating the Surface, Atkinson Gallery- Millfield and Millbank, London, UK
Oct. 2001- Showcase 1, Chelsea Millbank, London, UK
March 2001- Waterwall, projections on a 100 meter wall of waterspray participatory project with Copenhagen School, London, UK
Dec 2000- tow, Interventions-Artists working in electronic media, London, UK
Jan. 2000- Film & Video Marathon, ART IN GENERAL Gallery, New York, USA
Nov.1999- The London Artists’ Book Fair, Barbican Center, London, UK
July 1999- the chinese room, VOID Gallery, London, UK
June 1998- 14th International Hamburg Short Film Festival, Hamburg, Germany
May 1998- British and Norwegian Video and Performance Collaboration,
Bergen, Norway

Solo shows & performances

June 2004-..from Visual Poetry to Digital Art, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
Oct.01- Jan. 02-Settings, Medway Galleries, Gillingham, UK
August 2000- Consciousness Reframed, Consciousness and Hypertextual Narratives, Multimedia Performance-Presentation, CAiiA, Newport, Wales, UK
18-29 Oct.95- speaking in tongues, performance, double life exhibition, King Street-Studios, London, UK
Oct. 1993- Flag, International Performance Festival, Ojo Atomico, III FIARP, Madrid, Spain
May 1993- Performance, 3 Banners: I Miss You, Why Did You Leave? When Are You Coming Back? Camberwell Church Street, London, UK
Dec. 1992- Sculpture Performance: 7 Minutes of Passion, Syracuse, USA
Dec. 1992- $1.99 Installation, Shaffer Building, Syracuse, USA

Work Selected
Sept. 2002- Work selected as participant in the categories of Interactive Art and Animation, CyberArts 2002, International Compendium Prix Ars Electronica 2002

WORK IN COLLECTIONS

Mencía M. (Sept. 2006) Birds Singing Other Birds’ Songs, First volume of the Electronic Literature Collection, K. Hayles, N. Montfort, S. Rettberg, S. Strickland eds. The Electronic Literature Organization, UCLA Department of English, Los Angeles.
Mencía M. Hermenia Anthology of Digital Literature
Mencía M. Nokturno.org poetry and all
Interactive Audio for the Web

OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE

She has worked as an Artist Educator and Visiting Art Lecturer in galleries, art centers, schools, art colleges and media centers, she co-foundered IDEA (Innovation and Development in Educational Art). Main activities involved running workshops and residencies with educational groups and TAL (Community Arts Organisation established in February 2000, run and employed other artists in art education projects.

ARTISTIC POSITIONS (SELECTION 1994-2003)
Art Workshop leader, La Huella Multiple, Havana, Cuba, Artist Consultant, Young @ Art, The London Institute, London, Researching, Planning and writing guidelines for four Art competition projects (secondary and A level): Art & Science, Art & Identity, Art & Environment, Art & Language. Artist-Educator, Work based on the South London Gallery Collection, Notre Dame Sec. School, Southwark, London, UK Graphic Design Facilitator TS2K -Careers in Creativity, Brixton. Panning course and teaching Photoshop and Illustrator. Artist-Consultant, Winds of Change: the Schools Art Challenge, Watermans, London. One of a panel of judges for the BAA Heathrow Schools Art Challenge, Watermans, London. Workshop’s Leader, Computers and Textiles Project, Hammersmith & Fulham Council, London. Planning projects, teaching Photoshop and art practice, mounting and dismantling art exhibitions. Workshop Leader, children & adults workshops, Barbican Centre, London. Video Artist: Trough Words, See Me; collaborative work with Performance Poet- Poetry and Video Workshop, New Viv College, Newham, London, Art Teacher, Lillian Baylis Secondary School, Lambeth, London. Residency (IDEA), Pakeman Primary School, Highbury and Islington, London. Fundraising, planning and running workshops for Public art project (ceramics & mosaics), Exhibitions Co-ordinator's Assistant and Workshop leader, INSET sessions for teachers ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts), Westminster, London. Assistant to the Visual Arts Officer and Workshop Leader South London Gallery, London.