For over fifty years, Bay Area–based feminist artist Lynn Hershman Leeson has repurposed a range of media—from comic books to photographs to film, from Second Life to artificial intelligence to virtual reality—exploring the dynamics of self-making and self-surveillance. Here she shares some of her most recent work on the politics of algorithmic life, including her recent award-winning installation at the 2022 Venice Biennale.

Over the last five decades, artist and filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson has been internationally acclaimed for her art and films. Cited as one of the most influential media artists, Hershman Leeson is widely recognized for her innovative work investigating issues that are now recognized as key to the workings of society: the relationship between humans and technology, identity, surveillance, and the use of media as a tool of empowerment against censorship and political repression. Artwork by Hershman Leeson is featured in the public collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Tate Modern, London; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; in addition to many celebrated private collections.