primoridal futures
is megan may daalder

BIO

Megan May Daalder was raised in Los Angeles by two Dutch parents; a futurist-filmmaker father and a Jungian psychologist-artist mother. Her video, performance, and documentary work explores the emotional impact of technological change, pokes at insidious power structures, and playfully imagines alternate social arrangements. She has spoken at TEDx Gabriola Island and won the People's Choice award at the Entertainment Software and Cognitive Neurotherapeutics Society for her installation The Mirrorbox. This installation was also studied as a "novel tool for modulating self-other perception" at the USC Brain and Creativity Institute, in collaboration with neuroscientist Sook-Lei Lieu.

Daalder holds a BA from UCLA's Design Media Arts Department. Her work has been shown at Guggenheim Gallery, Orange County; Diet Gallery, Miami; Berkeley Museum of Art, Berkley; MaRS gallery, LA; Five Car Garage, Santa Monica; UCLA Art|Sci Gallery, LA; Mains D'Oeuvres Gallery, Paris; Jack Hanley Gallery, NYC, the 14th WRO Media Art Biennale, Wroclaw, Poland; the Rotterdam International Film Festival; Kyoto City University of Arts Gallery amongst other international festivals and venues.

EDUCATION

2006-2009 Bachelor of Arts, Design|Media Arts, University of California Los Angeles

2004-2006 Fine Arts, University of California Santa Cruz (transfer)

AWARDS

2013 “People’s Choice Poster Award,” Entertainment Software and Cognitive Neurotherapeutics Society

2011 CCI ARC Grant, Center for Cultural innovation, LA, CA

2011 Top Prize (ex aequo) WRO 14th Media Art Biennale, Wroclaw, Poland

2008 Anna Bing Arnold Award Escrow Scholarship

2008 Elaine Krown Klein Arts Scholarship, Elaine Krown Klein Foundation

2008 Best “non-objective/abstract” short, S’Not Narrative Video Art Festival

2007 Distinguished Student Award, UCLA Design | Media Arts

PRINT AND PRESS

2017 Try to Be Good Podcast “Revolution Eternal with Megan Daalder,” April 25, 2017 by Fei Liu

2014 The Believer, “The Compassion-Passion Machine,” May 8, 2014 by Deenah Vollmer

2014 Los Angeles Times, “Moment of Friday:’Biomass Man’ creator Megan Daalder sees into ‘Black Mirror,” November 7, 2014 by Carolina Miranda

2014 Life Transmission Exhibition Catalogue, “An Overlooked Transposal: The Amalgamation of Art and Life,” October 9 2014 by Olivia Love

2012 Motherboard, “Inside the Empathy Machine: Going Face-in-Face with Megan May Daalder and Her Mirrorbox”, August 29, 2012 by Claire L Evans.

2012 Scientific American, “Mirrorbox: The Story of How Art Became Science Video of the Week,” July 20,

012 by Bora Zivkovic

2011 Engine 28 Blog, “Theater in Unusual Nooks, Crannies and Ballrooms,“ June 15, 2011 by Julie potter

2011 Gazetta.pl News, “After the WRO Biennale 2011: Award for a wave, boxes, and noise. A third ear,” May 15, 2011 By Agata Saraczyńska

2010 Little Paper Planes, “Mirrorbox! Perform! Now! LA,” August 20, 2010 By Amanda Hunt

2010 Another Righteous Transfer, “Videos Collide in Real 3D Space,” April 12, 2010 By Carol Cheh

CURATORIAL PROJECTS

2019 “NOTMYUTOPIA,” Pleasure Dome, Toronto, Canada

2011 "Body-Based Performances Inspired by Machines," Anatomy Riot at the Alexandria Hotel, LA, CA

2010 "Videos Collide in Real Life 3D Space," 533 Gallery, LA, CA

2008 “The End of Money,” Inmo Gallery, LA, CA

RESIDENCIES, WORKSHOPS, AND TALKS

2019 “Make Your Own Crispr Baby,” Swissnex, San Francisco, CA

2016-2017 Performance workshop leader for “Future Scouts” summer camp

2017 Artist’s Talk: MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation

2017 Guest Critic: Liam Young’s Fiction + Entertainment Sci Arc review

2017 Artist’s Talk: Major Studio 1 at Parsons University, NY, NY

2015 Speaker: THE NEAR FUTURE OF ARCHITECTURE, Ohio State University, Ohio

2013 Speaker: TEDx Gabriola Island Speaker, Gabriola Island, BC

2012 Artist in Residence: UCLA iGEM team, LA, CA

2012 Artist in Residence: Mains D’Oeuvres, Paris, France

2012 Artist in Residence: Pieter Performance Space, LA, CA

2010 Artist in Residence: Real Presence, Belgrade, Serbia

2010 Guest Speaker: Mark Allen’s Digital Media Class, Pomona College, Pomona, CA

2010 Guest Speaker: Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands

2010 Guest Artist at Art|Sci summer institute, California Nanosystems Institute, CA

2009 UCLA Arts Honors Reception Student Speaker, LA, CA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & SCREENINGS

2019 Children of the Singularity in “NOTMYUTOPIA,” Pleasure Dome, Toronto, Canada

2019 Children of the Singularity Premiere, NAVEL, Los Angeles, CA

2019 “Tabula Rasa,” The Watermill Center Summer Benefit, Water Mill, NY

2019 “CYBORGRRRLS 2019,” Secret Location, CDMX, Mexico

2018 "Hyperobjects," Curated by Laura Copelin and Timothy Morton, Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX

2017 “The Mirrorbox” at MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, Santa Barbara CA

2017 "NADA NYC," Skylight Clarkson North, NY, NY

2017 "Drivers, Impulsers," Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA

2016 "Be a Better Being," Galerie der Schader-Stiftung, Darmstadt, Germany

2016 "In The Flesh," Diet Gallery, Miami, Fl

2016 "Open Air Prisons," LACE, Los Angeles, CA

2016 "Eternal Telethon," Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA

2016 "BIOPSY," Women's Center for Creative Work, Los Angeles, CA

2015 "Staging Los Angeles: Reality, Fantasy, and the Space Between," Roski MFA Gallery, LA CA

2015 "Bouillants No. 7: Gender," Bouillants Art Center, Vern-Sur-Seiche, France

2015 “Eureka and the Biomass: The Film,” MaRS Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2014 "LIFE TRANSMISSIONS," Guggenheim Gallery, Orange, CA

2014 "The HTMlles 11," Feminist Festival of Media Arts + Digital Culture, Montreal, Canada

2013 "Project Eureka: Prologue," UCLA Art|Science Gallery, LA, CA

2013 "TEDx Gabriola Island," Gabriola Island, BC

2012 Video of the week on Scientific American Blogs, The Internet

2012 “Mirrorbox Popup,” Jack Hanley Gallery, NY, NY

2011 “WRO 14th Media Art Biennale,” National Museum, Wroclaw, Poland

2011 “WRO 14th Media Art Biennale,” Grotowsky Institute, Wroclaw, Poland

2011 "Sans Vous, Rien Ne Se Fera," Mains D’Ouevres, Saint-Ouen, France

2011 "Freewaves ‘Out The Window’," Los Angeles City Busses, LA, CA

2011 "Pillow Talk #3," Kyoto City University of Arts Gallery, Kyoto, Japan

2011 “Mirrorbox Popup,” Patrick Painter Gallery, LA, CA

2011 "Imagination and Medicine Conference," Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, CA

2011 “Little Tokyo Design Conference,” Shipping container, LA, CA

2011 “PhotoLA Opening Night Benefit,” Santa Monica Convention Center, LA, CA

2010 “CologneOFF, Cologne International Videoart Festival,” Cologne, Germany

2010 "Immaginare/Assentarsi," Palermo, Italy

2010 "Ludere, Life and Environment," São Paulo, Brazil

2010 "Perform Now! Performance Festival," Human Resources, LA, CA

2010 “D|MA2 Device | Machine Arts,” CNSI, LA, CA

2009 "Self Portraits," EDA: Experimental Digital Arts, LA, CA

2009 "Collegial: A Painting Reapproach," Dortort Center for Creativity, LA, CA

2008 "Under_," UCLA New Wight Gallery, LA, CA

2008 "S’Not Narrative Arts Festival," Pomona, CA

2008 "Coalesce," EDA: Experimental Digital Arts, LA CA

SELECTED PERFORMANCES

2016 "Theater Nun Does Standup," Lyric Hyperion Theater, Los Angeles, CA

2016 "The Estranged," Berkeley Museum of Art, Berkeley, CA

2014 “Eureka and the Biomass,” Five Car Garage, Santa Monica, CA

2012 “Facial Recognition,” Performance at Liz Glynn’s Black Box Theatre, LA, CA

2011 “Analog DDR,” Body-Based performance Inspired by Machines, Anatomy Riot at the Alexandria

Hotel, LA, CA

2011 “Tribute to Karl Sims’ Virtual Evolved Creatures,” WRO 14th Media Art Biennial, Growtowski Institute, Wroclaw, Poland

2010 “Tribute to Karl Sims’ Virtual Evolved Creatures,” Video Collide in 3D Space, 533 Gallery, LA, CA

the future is not a blank slate

remembering is the task of intelligent lifeforms.

the future is not
a blank slate