I watched several videos from Lynn Hershman Leeson. The first impression I had with Lynn is that she as a woman tried to break the stereotypes of male-artist-dominance in the art world. She talked about her work was rejected because “Women artists didn’t make a good investment.”, and UCLA in the 70s closed her exhibition because they thought media was not officially art. This experience of rejection gave her courage and motivation to create more rick bodies of work.
Then I discovered that Lynn often uses multidisciplinary mediums in her work, such as sound, sculpture, painting, etc. Some of them are interactive, creating links between the audiences and artwork, or even between museums. She explores the roles that technology, media, and artifice play in society. Like she said, she wishes to “Confronts where we are in the society”.
For me, an interesting yet somewhat confusing work is her performance art in which she dressed up as Roberta, a fictious character that even had her own bank account and credit card. Roberta existed from 1972 to 1979. She is based in a hotel, and Lynn generated a scene that reflects certain elements from the real world. Roberta even posted roommate ads on local newspaper. I’m a bit confused with this interacting with the actual world part, because I think this might create confusion and inconvenience for the people who actually wish to find a roommate and devote some resources and attention to Roberta. However, this is quite mind-opening and creative.