K8 Hardy
Encyclopedia
K8 Hardy is a Brooklyn based artist working mainly in video and performance. She is represented by Reena Spaulings Fine Art. Hardy is one of the founding editors of LTTR, a radical genderqueer, lesbian-feminist art collective and journal. She also works as a fashion stylist for clients including Fischerspooner
and has made music videos for bands such as Lesbians on Ecstasy
and Le Tigre
.
Her worked is influenced by second-wave feminist
artists. She explains, "I’m not out to prove any theories. That’s a position I take. It’s one of anti-oppositional politics. I think it is often assumed that feminist work is trying to prove something, which is bizarre to me. The assumption that feminism is inherently didactic or polemic is so patriarchal” (White, 20). She has also referred to Chantal Mouffe
's "Artistic Activism and Agonistic Spaces" as a source of inspiration. Mouffe writes that artists, "can play an important role in the hegemonic struggle by subverting the dominant hegemony and by contributing to the construction of new subjectivities" (5).
She has a bachelor's degree in Women's Studies from Smith College with a focus on feminist and queer theory. It was during her time at Smith that Hardy was exposed to, and developed an interest in, contemporary art. This was facilitated by Elisabeth Subrin
, whom she had as a professor.
At 19 she received a grant to work with Miranda July
and the Northwest Film Center
in Portland, Oregon. She has also worked at Artists' Television Access
in San Francisco.
in the making of TV Lip Synch, a video in which the two artists lip sync to various daytime-television clips including scenes from Oprah
, a soap opera, and a Barbara Walters
interview, all programs marketed towards women.
play "Henry Stein-Acker-Hill" and "Henry Irigaray", fictional news reporters for the fictional news station WKRH, whose tagline is "pregnant with information". Their names are references to feminist theorists Luce Irigaray
, Edith Stein
, Joan Acker and Patricia Hill Collins
. As Wynne Greenwood
sometimes works under the name Wynne Ryan, WKRH is an acronym for Wynne K8 Ryan Hardy. The two, clad in berets, trench coats, and turtlenecks, report on news such as bra burning and running water and interview a friend suffering from anxiety. The press release states, "If traditional activist video was invested in the communication of clear messages to a target audience, the work makes politics by making television speak differently as it addresses the emergent qualities of a community for whom visibility is less a goal than a means of dismantling dominant images... If the revolution will be televised today it is only by queering TV in order to encounter the desires of the subjects and histories it addresses."
In 2007, Hardy and Greenwood performed New Report Live at the Tate Modern
in London. Their report focused on the multiple meanings of power and they dubbed the Tate the “structure of power”. Other forms of power discussed were colonialism, slavery, capitalism, and the war in Iraq. “The artists invaded and occupied an iconic structure of power, symbolic of omnipresent patriarchal structures of power within the art world and society at large” (Dickinson, 5).
’s concept of “Bare Life” (White, 20).
's Store. For it Hardy made a line of Performance Panties. Hardy explains, "there are ten pairs in the line. If you purchase a pair, you will be able to buy a one-of-a-kind video of my performance in that pair of panties. Now, it’s not about hanging out naked in my underwear, but rather selling myself as an artist" (White, 22).
Fischerspooner
Fischerspooner is an electroclash duo and performance troupe formed in 1998 in New York. The name is a portmanteau of the founders' last names, Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner...
and has made music videos for bands such as Lesbians on Ecstasy
Lesbians on Ecstasy
Lesbians on Ecstasy is an electronic band from Montreal, Quebec.The band toured across Canada and the U.S. with Le Tigre before the release of their first recording.The first album, the self-titled Lesbians on Ecstasy was released on October 26, 2004...
and Le Tigre
Le Tigre
Le Tigre is an American electroclash band, formed by Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman in 1998. It also featured Sadie Benning from 1998 until 2001, and JD Samson for the rest of the group's run...
.
Her worked is influenced by second-wave feminist
Second-wave feminism
The Feminist Movement, or the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States refers to a period of feminist activity which began during the early 1960s and lasted through the early 1990s....
artists. She explains, "I’m not out to prove any theories. That’s a position I take. It’s one of anti-oppositional politics. I think it is often assumed that feminist work is trying to prove something, which is bizarre to me. The assumption that feminism is inherently didactic or polemic is so patriarchal” (White, 20). She has also referred to Chantal Mouffe
Chantal Mouffe
Chantal Mouffe is a Belgian political theorist.-Work:Chantal Mouffe studied at Louvain, Paris and Essex and has worked in many universities throughout the world . She has also held visiting positions at Harvard, Cornell, Princeton and the CNRS...
's "Artistic Activism and Agonistic Spaces" as a source of inspiration. Mouffe writes that artists, "can play an important role in the hegemonic struggle by subverting the dominant hegemony and by contributing to the construction of new subjectivities" (5).
Early influence
Hardy was born on October 27, 1977 in Fort Worth, Texas. She started spelling her name "K8" (as opposed to Kate) as a teenager, drawing from the street language of skateboarding culture and using the nicknames in zines.She has a bachelor's degree in Women's Studies from Smith College with a focus on feminist and queer theory. It was during her time at Smith that Hardy was exposed to, and developed an interest in, contemporary art. This was facilitated by Elisabeth Subrin
Elisabeth Subrin
Elisabeth Subrin is a Brooklyn-based film and video artist and curator.-Biography:In 1990 she received a B.F.A. in film from Massachusetts College of Art. She then received an M.F.A. in video from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995, where she stayed to teach in the First Year...
, whom she had as a professor.
At 19 she received a grant to work with Miranda July
Miranda July
Miranda July is a performing artist, writer, actress and film director. Born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger, she works under the surname of "July," which can be traced to a character from a "girlzine" Miranda created with high school friend Johanna Fateman, called Snarla.- Background :Miranda...
and the Northwest Film Center
Northwest Film Center
The Northwest Film Center is a regional media arts resource and service organization based in Portland, Oregon, United States that was founded to encourage the study, appreciation, and utilization of film...
in Portland, Oregon. She has also worked at Artists' Television Access
Artists' Television Access
Artists' Television Access is a non-profit art gallery and screening venue in San Francisco's Mission District in the United States of America. ATA exhibits work by emerging, independent and experimental artists in its theatre and gallery space as well as on its weekly Public-access television...
in San Francisco.
TV Lip Synch (2002)
Hardy collaborated with Wynne GreenwoodWynne Greenwood
Wynne Greenwood is a lesbian feminist performance artist who works in various media such as installation art, photography, filmmaking and music.Wynne currently works out of Seattle, Washington...
in the making of TV Lip Synch, a video in which the two artists lip sync to various daytime-television clips including scenes from Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, a soap opera, and a Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
interview, all programs marketed towards women.
Beautiful Radiating Energy (2004)
Beautiful Radiating Energy is a performance piece in which Hardy, dressed all in white, makes gymnastic contortions in front of a projected video while shouting “I am happy; I am here; I am hurt. I’m ready!” in a variety of ranges that require a month of vocal training. The video projected includes images of Hardy's friend Math walking away from the camera, found footage of reactions to the burial of Baader-Meinhof terrorists, gay rights parades, and body building competitions. (Wang, 104)New Report (2005-2007)
Hardy and Wynne GreenwoodWynne Greenwood
Wynne Greenwood is a lesbian feminist performance artist who works in various media such as installation art, photography, filmmaking and music.Wynne currently works out of Seattle, Washington...
play "Henry Stein-Acker-Hill" and "Henry Irigaray", fictional news reporters for the fictional news station WKRH, whose tagline is "pregnant with information". Their names are references to feminist theorists Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray is a Belgian feminist, philosopher, linguist, psychoanalyst, sociologist and cultural theorist. She is best known for her works Speculum of the Other Woman and This Sex Which Is Not One .-Biography:...
, Edith Stein
Edith Stein
Saint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross, sometimes also known as Saint Edith Stein , was a German Roman Catholic philosopher and nun, regarded as a martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic Church...
, Joan Acker and Patricia Hill Collins
Patricia Hill Collins
Patricia Hill Collins, is Distinguished University Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, former head of the Department of African American Studies at the University of Cincinnati and past President of the American Sociological Association Council...
. As Wynne Greenwood
Wynne Greenwood
Wynne Greenwood is a lesbian feminist performance artist who works in various media such as installation art, photography, filmmaking and music.Wynne currently works out of Seattle, Washington...
sometimes works under the name Wynne Ryan, WKRH is an acronym for Wynne K8 Ryan Hardy. The two, clad in berets, trench coats, and turtlenecks, report on news such as bra burning and running water and interview a friend suffering from anxiety. The press release states, "If traditional activist video was invested in the communication of clear messages to a target audience, the work makes politics by making television speak differently as it addresses the emergent qualities of a community for whom visibility is less a goal than a means of dismantling dominant images... If the revolution will be televised today it is only by queering TV in order to encounter the desires of the subjects and histories it addresses."
In 2007, Hardy and Greenwood performed New Report Live at the Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
in London. Their report focused on the multiple meanings of power and they dubbed the Tate the “structure of power”. Other forms of power discussed were colonialism, slavery, capitalism, and the war in Iraq. “The artists invaded and occupied an iconic structure of power, symbolic of omnipresent patriarchal structures of power within the art world and society at large” (Dickinson, 5).
Hallmark Card (2006)
Hallmark Card is an installation in which a rear projection is displayed on a screen of cotton jersey. Hardy is shown overwhelmed by roses. The piece speaks "against the pressure of coupling" while portraying "singularity that is not totally single" (Wang, 104).Poser Reel (2007)
A lifestyle piece, Poser Reel sees Hardy, as character Elise, walking around Brooklyn with artist Klara Liden and performing such acts as biting each other's arms and peeing into a glass. Hardy comments, "it’s glamorized a little bit—strategically—because it’s a marginal position" (Wang, 104).Bare Life (2007)
In this performance project with musician and sound artist Stefan Tcherepnin, the two respond to Giorgio AgambenGiorgio Agamben
Giorgio Agamben is an Italian political philosopher best known for his work investigating the concepts of the state of exception and homo sacer....
’s concept of “Bare Life” (White, 20).
COMPANY
Located in the storefront of Art In General, this "everything shop" was created by sculptor Fawn Krieger and modeled after Claes OldenburgClaes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg is a Swedish sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects...
's Store. For it Hardy made a line of Performance Panties. Hardy explains, "there are ten pairs in the line. If you purchase a pair, you will be able to buy a one-of-a-kind video of my performance in that pair of panties. Now, it’s not about hanging out naked in my underwear, but rather selling myself as an artist" (White, 22).