Valerie Guinn Polgar
Valerie Guinn Polgar was born in El Paso, TX to a Mexican mother and a father, who shortly after her birth, joined the military. She was therefore raised a military brat and cannot call one specific place home. Valerie is a digital/media artist, educator, and researcher with a BFA in Digital Art from George Mason University, a Post Baccalaureate in Computer Science from Tufts University, and an MFA in Computer Art from the School of Visual Arts. She worked professionally in photo labs and print, as well as in video editing and motion graphics, in the DC metro area and in NYC in the late 2000s to early 2010s, before turning her attention to both practicing and teaching art.
Valerie’s video, animation, and interactive works have been shown nationally through festivals, exhibitions, and installations. Her work has been supported by Capital One, through 1708 Gallery’s annual InLight public exhibition, by Burning Man, through the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, and others. She was also commissioned by the University of Mississippi Museum and invited by The Trust for Governor’s Island Residency to produce site-specific works in both Mississippi and NYC. Valerie is currently pursuing studies in computer science, where she is researching tech for accessibility, with a focus on XR and game design—bridging her creative practice with more research-based work.
Outside of her own practice, Valerie has served as head programmer in Animation and Experimental Film for the Oxford Film Festival since 2017, co-founded a community art event called PROJECT(ion) in 2018, and founded/directed a media arts organization called Misbits NMA from 2016-2020. She also served as a Media Arts Panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for 3 years, and as a Reviewer for the International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) and the Journal of Artistic Research (JAR).
I create playful, immersive, and interactive experiences that address issues of impermanence, fragility, and interconnection. I incorporate the use of animation, video, sound, coding, physical computing, and XR as dynamic and immersive tools in my practice. Through these tools I present simulations of densely layered abstract elements as sentient systems intended to expose a series of complex working parts—each of which relies on the other. These elements are often inspired by cellular structures or by electrical circuitry. My works range from playful electrical circuits to site specific interactive installations, where the role that the viewer plays against these systems is highlighted. Textures, sound, and interactivity can also be used for additional experiential layering.
In general, my interactive works are designed to add a suggestive element of vulnerability in giving users, who serve as an outside force against a given system, the ability to either support or disrupt this working system. My intentions are to illuminate what is often overlooked or ignored by juxtaposing the digital and physical realms. Ultimately, my goal is to create a space where vulnerability is not viewed as a weakness but rather as a conduit for exploration where viewers are able to reflect on the transient nature of existence and to consider the strengths and beauty of entropy. Through interactivity and immersion, such experiences have the potential of becoming more impactful when they occur within such mediums that support extensions of reality. My current focus is on harnessing this potential.