Steina is a pioneer of electronic art, composing a multifaceted practice that combines the conventional roles of artist, composer, performer, and engineer. Her work has expanded the boundaries of video technology, electronic imaging, and new media art. The trajectory of her oeuvre, from early documentary experiments to expansive multichannel installations, maps her pursuit of what she designates as “machine vision”: a playful, non-anthropocentric perspective that deliberately stretches perception beyond the limits of human-centered vision. Her approach is characterized by fearless experimentation; she constructs her own electronic lexicon rather than merely manipulating existing tools.
A classically trained violinist, Steina turned to video in the late 1960s and approached the medium with an acutely musical sensitivity. In her practice, sound generates image, and image generates sound, in reciprocal interdependence. Video becomes vibration, a current that translates elements into environments. Carrying rhythm and resonance into her electronic experiments, she treats the signal itself as a medium, transforming perception into something mutable and alive. Her training in music theory profoundly informed her conception of temporality: she was never interested in stills, recognizing that video, like music, requires motion to exist.
Key works exemplify her innovations: the Vasulka Effect, a form of horizontal drift originating from a faulty cable that she later developed into a specific tool; Violin Power (1991), interactive performances with MIDI violin generating video images while playing; and Orka (1997 Venice Biennale), which juxtaposed water and fire to reveal “the workings of time.”
EXHIBITIONS
2026 Munich (de), HAUS DER KUNST
2025 Reykjavík (is), REYKJAVÍK ART MUSEUM
2024–2025 Cambridge (us), MIT LIST VISUAL ARTS CENTER
2008 Santa Fe (us), SITE SANTA FE
1998 Tokyo (jp), NTT INTERCOMMUNICATION CENTER (ICC)
1994 Rome (it), PALAZZO DELLE ESPOSIZIONI
1993 San Francisco (us), SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (SFMOMA)
1992 Helsinki (fi), KIASMA NYKYTAITEEN MUSEO
1984 Paris (fr), CINE-MBXA/CINEDOC
1978 Buffalo (us), ALBRIGHT-KNOX ART GALLERY
1976 New York (us), MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (MoMA)
1975 Philadelphia (us), INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART
1970s New York (us), THE KITCHEN
1970s New York (us), ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES
Regular exhibition activities since the 1970s
TEACHING
1995 Karlsruhe (de), STAATLICHE HOCHSCHULE FÜR GESTALTUNG
1980s–1990s Frankfurt (de), INSTITUTE FOR NEW MEDIA AT THE STAEDELSCHULE
1980s–1990s Vienna (at), AKADEMIE FÜR ANGEWANDTE KUNST
1980s Reykjavík (is), COLLEGE OF ARTS AND CRAFTS
1974–1979 Buffalo (us), CENTER FOR MEDIA STUDY, SUNY BUFFALO
STUDIES
1950s–1959 Reykjavík (is), COLLEGE OF ARTS AND CRAFTS, Studies Music Theory and Violin
1959–1963 Prague (cz), CONSERVATORY, Diploma Violin
BIO
Lives in Santa Fe/NM (us)
1980 MOved to Santa Fe/NM with Woody Vasulka
1965 Moved to New York with Woody Vasulka to New York, where she initially worked as a freelance musician
1949 Born in Reykjavík (is), full name Steinunn Briem Bjarnadóttir
LINKS
CREDIT
AUTHOR Bettina Pelz
PUBLISHED 15 JUN 26