Julie Goldstein (American, born 1968). Virtual Memory (still), 2019. Single-channel video, 22 minutes 44 seconds. Image courtesy of the Artist. ©Julie Goldstein
An evocative blend of history and poetry, Virtual Memory is a meditation on image-making and its impact on human consciousness, from the physical process of photography and film, to the alternate universes created by computers and virtual reality.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
“Goodbye machines,” says the narrator in Virtual Memory. “Goodbye moving parts, goodbye analog, goodbye wavelengths, goodbye particles and pulses, goodbye 20th century. We are making our exit and we are leaving a note. A graffiti. We were here.”
Filmmaker Julie Goldstein traces the legacy and history of the predominant mediums of the last century – like photography, filmmaking, and the radio – and embraces the freedom offered by the immaterial digital sphere. In Virtual Memory Goldstein presents a vision for a future society that welcomes technological advancement in the name of learning and self-expression. At once a critique and celebration of human interactivity with modern devices, Goldstein offers a reassessment of how the sense of self and our communication with others is dependent on the tools we use while also pondering the increasingly intangible nature of our lives. A farewell to the analog, Goldstein envisages the next phase of humanity as one that expands how people’s experience of their lives is mediated by digital interfaces.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Julie Goldstein is an experimental filmmaker and new media artist based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is Assistant Professor at Grand Valley State University, where she teaches film culture, animation, and new media within the Department of Visual and Media Arts and is a faculty fellow at the GVSU Applied Computing Institute. Goldstein describes herself as working at the intersections of old and new technology. She was formerly the Academic Director of Media at the Art Institute of Colorado, where she spearheaded the Game Art and Design program. Goldstein holds an MFA in filmmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she specialized in experimental animation. She has produced and directed numerous animated projects, ranging from a feature length children’s character animation to 3D visualizations for the Grand Rapids Ballet.
Goldstein is currently Creative Director for GVSU’s Project Grand Path, one of the Presidential Initiatives associated with the Reach Higher 2025 campaign.
