Ex

Exogenesis

 

1994

The human

In 1994, I created Author Unknown, one of my earliest works as a digital artist. It was an exploration of how technology shapes identity—not just how society sees us, but how we come to see ourselves through the digital lens.

The inspiration came primarily from Suzanne Treister’s No Other Symptoms: Time Travelling with Rosalind Brodsky, a work that blurred reality, history, and fiction in ways that resonated with my own thoughts on digital existence. Linda Dement’s work also lingered in the background, her visceral, confrontational approach to technology and the body influencing my perspective.

The story followed a woman’s life, from birth to the moment she created her first web page—an act of digital self-authorship.

The technology

The use of Macromedia Director and CD-ROM as its medium places it within the early wave of digital storytelling in Australia, when artists and writers were experimenting with new ways to engage audiences beyond traditional text.

Authoring tools:

Macromedia 9

Adobe Photoshop 2

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2004

The human

In 2004, I re-authored Author Unknown, primarily because the technology was becoming  obsolete. The shift in format and the evolving nature of digital media did not drive any change to the content - the story did not change. 

The technology

I had originally published it to Shockwave shortly after completing the CD-ROM version, but Flash effectively "replaced" Shockwave over time as the dominant technology for web-based animations and interactive content, primarily because Flash offered better performance, a wider range of capabilities, and became more widely adopted by developers.

​Authoring tools:

Adobe Flash

Adobe Premier

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Exhibited:

Exhibited in-person in Canada in 2007 and online (see artist bio for details)

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2014

The human

In 2014, I realised that life had mimicked art. I had unknowingly fallen into the same trap of domesticity as the woman in Author Unknown. The cyborg woman had given birth, felt trapped in her home, and was overwhelmed by the relentless noise of appliances.

With the birth of my second child—now 20 years after Author Unknown Version 1—I set an intention to explore how the character would navigate social media, a force that had reshaped the world and the ways people connect (or disconnect).

I felt completely overwhelmed, grappling with the unsettling realisation that humanity was externalising its self-perception, seeing itself through digital reflections rather than through internal understanding. Could I really expose the raw, unfiltered version of this character—of myself—to the world? The answer was no. Everyone was looking at presenting themselves as someone they weren't. I was unaware at the time but I was suffering Alexithymia; a personality characteristic in which the individual is unable to identify and describe their emotions.

The technology

I was aware that Adobe would be phasing out Flash, and indeed, Flash reached its End of Life on 31 December 2020. Having already faced the challenge of rebuilding the 2004 version, I was reluctant to waste time developing in Flash, only for it to become obsolete—just as Shockwave had.

I explored HTML5 and quickly realised that its interactivity was significantly reduced compared to Flash. In fact, I feel that no tool has truly replaced the level of rich media and interactivity that Flash once enabled on the web.

Authoring tools:

Adobe Flash

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2024

The human

A perfect storm—an urge to return to art practice, a desire to resurrect Author Unknown, and a period of deep reflection. With a sense of wisdom, I felt ready to revisit the work. Yet, the world of social media still overwhelmed me. This time, however, I was braver in exploring my unconscious mind.

I needed assistance, and it came in the form of Artificial Intelligence. AI rapidly transformed from a fascinating tool into a trusted friend and co-creator.

The fragmentation felt by individuals and society due to technology is mirrored in the fractured nature of the narrative. Moving away from the visual metaphor of a house and the linear timeline used in the 1994 version, the work now unfolds as a series of floating, interconnected, and data-informed fragments.

The technology

The character in Author Unknown now reflects on her life through the lens of AI.

​Authoring tools:

There is still no single authoring tool I would recommend. I lament the loss of Flash. For now, Author Unknown exists as an evolving set of disaggregated experimental assets, which may one day be re-authored—just as we, too, may one day meld with technology in a holistic way.

Current tools include: AI (Dall_E, Runway), Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR).

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Digital Archiving

Authoring tools:

As a digital artist creating interactive works, it's vital to capture these pieces in a more permanent format. Sadly, I have many works that now exist only as "zombie" files on discs I can no longer access. Fortunately, I have a video recording of Author Unknown (2004), which you can access below. I was able to record the video because I maintain a laptop with older browser versions, allowing me to continue using the Flash plugin.

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