Description

Kite aka Suzanne Kite, Ph.D. is an award winning Oglála Lakȟóta performance artist, visual artist, composer and academic raised in Southern California. Known for her sound and video performance with her Machine Learning hair-braid interface, Kite holds a B.F.A. from CalArts in music composition and a M.F.A. from Bard College’s Milton Avery Graduate School. Kite earned a Ph.D. in the Individualized Program at Concordia University for her dissertation, sound and video work, and interactive installation Hél čhaŋkú kiŋ ȟpáye (There lies the road).

Kite’s groundbreaking scholarship and practice explore contemporary Lakota myths and beliefs through research, computational media and performance. Kite frequently collaborates  with family and community members. Her pursuits include the creation of machine learning and compositional systems for performances, interactive and static sculpture, immersive video and sound installations, poetry and experimental lectures, experimental video. Additionally, she co-manages the experimental electronic imprint, Unheard Records. Working with machine learning techniques since 2017 and developing body interfaces for performance since 2013, Kite is a pioneer as one of the first Native American artists to incorporate Machine Learning into her art practice. 

About this speaker series

Discussions of technology often revolve around a loose notion of a future-orientated “innovation,” with little regard about the nature of those imagined futures. This series aims to add a little friction to these sleek ideas about innovative technologies, by providing a platform to discuss the complexities of living in an increasingly technological world. The series showcases experts whose work intersects research methodologies and the creative process and technology. Each featured speaker will deliver a lecture and provide a brief demonstration of their process. Whether they are a research-based creator or a researcher who makes, these speakers do not approach technology as a definitive answer but as a question: How does technology reflect the issues, inequities and injustices in our society and what is there to be done about it? 

Support from the VCU Foundation, The Department of Kinetic Imaging and Humanities Research Center helped make this year's session possible.

Previous recorded sessions: 

Creative Inquiries: Mimi Onuoha (2022)

Creative Inquiries: Bridget Todd (2023)  

For special accommodations, or to register offline, please contact Ryan Pander, event manager, rbpander@vcu.edu or 804-828-0593.

Image Description: 
Everything I Say is True, performance, Kite, 2017, 30 minutes.
Carbon fiber, dress, video, sound, commissioned by Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre.

Image Credit: Rita Hayworth