For over two decades, Tiffany Trenda has been at the forefront of exploring the intersection of performance and technology, delving into the convergence of the human body with the evolving technological landscape. With a focus on the phenomenology of the body and the concept of simulation, her work provides a profound reflection on the complexities of truth, identity, and representation.
In “Beyond Performance,” Trenda ventures into the realm of performance art and artificial intelligence. Through the integration of smart applications and her performance archive, she introduces a new dimension to the traditional understanding of the body in performance art. These imaginative performances only exist in the digital realm, blurring the boundaries between what is real and what is fictional. These imagined performances push the limits of what can be, challenging conventional notions of identity and representation within simulated experiences.
“Beyond Performance” is an ongoing project presented on Tiffany Trenda’s Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tiffanytrenda/. It was also presented at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Un/Seen is a live performance within an immersive experience using volumetric capture. It transforms in real-time and is a hybrid of holographic, physical, and animation. All of this, while the performer was in another location not on-site.
With new immersive experiences, we become disembodied. That is, we are physically in one space while our eyes and thoughts are experiencing another world simultaneously. Our bodies become dissociated as we shift between the simulated and the real. Furthermore, we are not immediately within the presence of another. Our presence is mediated and transported into another space that doesn't actually exist. We are in essence, seen and unseen.
Un/Seen Avatars are the custom avatars that the public choses as they enter the virtual space. These videos are on a loop. This was a collaboration with artist Tiffany Trenda and dulce303.
Interactive video installation: 3 video monitors, 3 computers, and webcam
https://vanishingportrait.com/
Permanent Collection of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art 2019
The Vanishing Portrait is a collection of interactive videos that investigate biases related to women's bodies in both social media and AI.
“Identity” shows a video of an asian model and invites the public to click on vanishingportrait.com/google/. Here, a screen shot of the Google search, “Asian Girls” will appear on the video screen. After a period of time, the screen is covered from these images. These images reveal sexualized descriptions and imagery associated with the search term, noting the racial bias present in Google searches.
"Label" showcases an African American model and invites the public to tag a photo on Instagram with "#vanishingportrait." With each participant's action, this tag accumulates on the video screen. As more visitors contribute, the screen becomes completely covered in these hashtags. This video work initially addressed Instagram's filters which predominantly lightened the skin. This showed the discriminatory aspect of the social media platform.
Lastly, ”Ghost" presents a video image of a light-skinned model, questioning the ethics of AI systems' datasets. Using Google AI and a webcam, it detects the gaze of the person in front of the screen. The more people gaze at the screen, the opacity of the image diminishes. "Ghost" was crafted by training an AI system, revealing that a search for "women looking into the camera" predominantly yields images of lighter skin. This perpetuates a hierarchy system of skin color, indicating that lighter skin is embedded into AI systems as a preference. The piece explores how societal perceptions of attractiveness are still rooted in the notion that lighter skin is more appealing, haunting our artificial intelligence.
Caryatid
Video Installation 2011
Running Time: Continuous
“Caryatid” is a video installation that is projected into a corner using two video projectors. The image is a close up of the female body with vernacular architectural details projected onto the skin. By projecting the image into a large space, the work plays with size by making the architecture appear smaller and the body larger.
“Caryatid” is a Greek or Roman female figure that supports a structure and sometimes is a stand-in for a pillar or column. So, the female body takes the place of an object. The female body is used as decoration. In Trenda’s work, the columns are projected onto the body, making the body the architecture and the columns the embellishment.. Therefore, the artist is commenting on how the female body is historically rooted into ornamentation.
Video Installation 2011
Running Time: Continuous
Tiffany Trenda's Body Study II is a modern interpretation of Oskar Schlemmer’s 1927 Triadic Ballet. In the original work, “Triadic” refers to three: three dancers, three colors, and three acts. In Trenda’s, it refers to the composition where three areas are sectioned off. The costumes again resonate the effects of the original, with a garment design built out of a cylinder and other circular shapes.
Trenda's work is part of a series that combines the language of dance and film. We interpret these two mediums through movement, time, and space but Trenda offers a new language to be explored by projecting onto the body. That is, the body becomes a surface for projection, a screen, while the video becomes an embellishment for the body creating another layer of information.
Sound design was provided by Joseph Bishara and the ballet dancer is Jasmine Ejan. Special Thanks to Victor Solomon.
Framed video screen, 2001
Trenda’s work is an interpretation of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ "Le Grande Odalisque," featuring a live image of the artist as the subject on a video loop. The work comments on the objectification of the female body in cinema and historical painting. The notion of the stare of the artist is seductive, pulling the viewer closer into the work. It is disrupted by the slight jolt of the end of the video clip, reminding the viewer it is a video and not a still image.
Ltd. Ed. DVD of 100