photo by Michael Mastrototaro, 2011
Norman T. White -- Curriculum vitae
[Group Shows]
[Commisions]
[Prizes]
[Public Collections]
[Private Collections]
[Bibliography]
[Public Lectures]
[Education]
[Teaching]
[Panelist]
[Agents]
Solo Shows
2018 Retrospective, Digifest, Corus Centre, Toronto, Ontario.
2018 "Norman T. White Lives Here" Durham Art Gallery, Durham, Ontario.
2009 "We Fix Toasters", Kunstalle, Bremen, Germany.
2003 "Norm's Robots", Koffler Centre for the Arts, Toronto, Ontario.
1984 "Funny Weather", Eye Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1983 University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
1982 "Funky Isn't Junky", A-Space, Toronto, Ontario.
1981 Media Study Centre, Buffalo, New York.
1975-6 "Electrical Machines", three venues:
1. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia.
2. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
3. Owens Art Gallery, Mt.Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick.
1971 Electric Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1974 Electric Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1972 Erindale College, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario.
Selected Group Shows
2019 "Carbon and Light: Juan Geuer's Luminous Precision", Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario.
2015 "Enchanting Times" ISEA, Museum of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia.
2011 "Strategic Arts Initiative 2.0", V2, Rotterdam, Holland.
2010 "Electrohype 2010", Konstmuseum, Ystad, Sweden.
2010 "thelivingeffect", Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario.
thelivingeffect", Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario.
2008 "Schematic: The Machine That Moves Us", [space] media arts, London, U.K.
2008 "IA25: Mapping a practice of new media art" Inter/Access, Toronto, Ontario.
2007 "BIOS 4", Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo,
Seville, Spain.
2006 "Maskin", Trondheim Elektroniske Kunstsenter, Trondheim, Norway.
2006 transmediale.06, Berlin, Germany.
2006 Inter/Access, Toronto, OntarIo.
2005-6 "Resonance/Electromagnetic Bodies", six venues:
1. Occurrence Gallery, Montreal, Quebec.
2. Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany.
3. Conde Duque Gallery, Madrid, Spain.
4. V2 Gallery, Rotterdam, Holland
5. Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary.
6. Festival @rtOutsiders, Paris, France.
2004 "Electrohype", Malmo Konsthall, Malmo, Sweden.
2003 "Machine Life", Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario
2002 "Sentient Circuitry", Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta.
2002 "Paradise Reflected", Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario.
2001 "Bellevue", Paul Petro Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
2000 "Engaging the Virtual", Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1999 "Nature of the Machine",Cambridge Library & Gallery, Cambridge, Ontario.
1997 "A Life of Its Own", Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City, Mexico.
1997 "Like Life", European Conference on Artificial Life, Brighton, England.
1995 "Net@Works, Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City, Mexico.
1995 "Welcome to the Electric Skin", McLuhan Programme, Toronto, Ontario.
1995 "Two Works from the Permanent Collection", National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
1994 "Our Own Devices", Durham Art Gallery, Durham, Ontario.
1994 "Art + Technology", two-person show with Maggie Dorning, Workscene Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1992 "Age of Electronics", Lake Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1990 "Numbering", Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario.
1989-90 "Machinations", four venues:
1. La Chambre Blanche, Quebec City, Quebec.
2. Espace Virtuel, Chicoutimi, Quebec.
3. Centre Culturel, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.
4. Galerie d l'Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Montreal, Quebec.
1989 "Beyond Electonics", Gallery One-One-One, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
1988 "Salamandre", Musee d'Art, Bourges, France.
1988-89 "The Phase Show", two venues:
1. Glendon College Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
2. A-Space, Toronto, Ontario.
1986 "Les Machines Sentimentales", three venues:
1. C.I.R.C.A., Villeneuve-lex-Avignon, France.
2. Centre Georges Pomidou, Paris, France.
3. Centre Culturel, Caen, France.
1986 "Strategic Arts Initiative", University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy.
1985 "Hearsay", global art/telecommunications event originating from A-Space,Toronto, Ontario.
1984 "Influencing Machines", YYZ Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1982 "Artists/Computers/Art", four venues:
1. Canada House, London, England.
2. Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris, France.
3. Exhibition Gallery, Milton Keynes, England.
4. The Ulster Museum, Belfast, North Ireland.
1979 "Sound at PS-1", Clocktower Gallery, New York, N.Y.
1977-8 "Another Dimension", four venues:
1. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
2. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
3. Art College of Alberta, Calgary, Alberta.
4. Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alta.
1969 "The Canadian Electric Company", Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1969 "Some More Beginnings", Experiments in Art & Technology (E.A.T.), Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York.
Commissions
1975 "Splish Splash Two", Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Vancouver, B.C.
(40 ft. x 8 ft. electronically controlled light mural).
Prizes
2022 Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts. OCAD University, Toronto, Ontario.
2018 Digifest Media Pioneer Award.
2008 d.velop digital art award [ddaa], sponsored by the Digital Art Museum, Berlin, Germany.
1995 Petro Canada Award
1990 Prix Ars Electronica 90. Linz, Austria. "Auszeichnungen": for The Helpless Robot.
1985 La Villette, Musee National des Sciences, des Techniques, et des Industries, Paris, France.
Second Prize: for the design of a landmark object for "Le Zoo des Robots".
Public Collections
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queens University.
Art Gallery of Ontario (2 works).
Art Bank, Canada Council (8 works).
Erindale College, University of Toronto.
National Gallery of Canada (3 works).
Vancouver Art Gallery.
Selected Private Collections
Joseph Colucci
Laura Kikauka
Heinz Macke
Al Mattes
Sam Markle
Medtronic Museum of Electricity and Art
Hans Redmann
Julian Rowan
P. Schumaker
Brydon Smith
John Weinzweig
Peter Wilson
Selected Bibliography
2016 "Robots and Art: Exploring an Unlikely Synthesis", Edited by Damith Herath,
Christian Kroos, and Stelarc.
Springer Press.
2011 Ine Poppe and Sam Nemeth, "Them Fuckin' Robots", a video biography of Norman White, featuring
interviews with Michelle Kasprzak, Laura Kikauka, Jeff Mann, and Graham Smith.
2005 Eduardo Kac, "Telepresence & Bio Art", University of Michigan Press.
2000 Ursula Huws, "Nature, Technology, and Art: The Emergence of a New Relationship?",
Leonardo, Vol.33, No.1.
1997 Eduardo Kac, "Foundation and Development of Robotic Art", Art Journal, Vol.56, No.3.
1997 Annette Hünnekens, "Der Bewegte Betrachter. Theorien der interaktiven Medienkunst",
Wienand Medien.
1997 Ursula Huws, "Beast in the Machine", Guardian (On-Line Section), April 3rd.
1984 Brian Reffin Smith, "Soft Computing: Art & Design", Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
1976 Joe Bodolai, Artscanada, May issue.
1975 John Turnbull, Vanguard, September issue.
Formal Education
1962-63 San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, Calif.
(part-time/night classes)
1959-60 Art Students' League, New York
City, N.Y. (part-time/night classes)
1955-59 Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass. (B.A., Biology).
1951-55 Punchard High School,
Andover, Mass.
Teaching Activity
1978-2003: Instructor, Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto, Ontario.
2003-2016: Instructor, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario.
Public Lectures
2011 "Das Verhalten von Maschinen: Robotik", Schloss Wokersdorf, Germany.
2003 "Sentient Machines" -- "Connected!" speaker series organized by Graham Smith and sponsored by
the WAAG Society of Old and New Media, Amsterdam, Holland.
2003 University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
2002 State University of New York, Buffalo, New York.
2000 Centre de Recherches d'Esthétique du Cinéma et des Arts audiovisuels,
Université Paris 1, Paris, France.
1997 "Where There's Artificial There's Art", European Conference on Artificial Life, Brighton, England.
1995 "Confessions of an Electric Artist", National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
1990 "Artists' Forum", Ars
Electronica, ORF-Landesstudio Oberosterreich, Linz, Austria.
1986 "Viewpoints", Banff School of Art, Banff, B.C.
1983 "New Horizons", Visual Arts Ontario, Toronto, Ontario.
1976 National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
Selected Participation in Panel Discussions
2011 "Them Fuckin' Robots" Q&A along with filmmakers Ine Poppe and Sam Nemeth following screenings of their film
 at Emily Carr Univ. of Art & Design (Vancouver, B.C.), Ryerson University, (Toronto, Ontario), Open Space (Victoria, B.C.),
 Agnes Etherington Art Centre (Kingston, Ontario), and VIVO (Vancouver, B.C.).
2002 "Art Creates Change", Machiko Kusahara in Conversation with Norman White, part of a speaker series sponsored by
the Ontario College of Art & Design, The Rivoli, Toronto, Ontario.
2001 "Robotics & Sculpture", Panelist with Simon Penny, Theo Jansen, Jen Hall, and Ken Rinaldo,
19th International Sculpture Conference,
 Pittsburgh, PA.
1998 "Pour une Ecologie des Media, Rencontres Internationales Art Cinema-Video-Ordinateur",
Panelist with Nancy Paterson, Edmond Couchot, and Sally Jane Norman. Sponsored by A.S.T.A.R.T.I
pour l'Art Audiovisuel, Paris, France.
1995 "NERVEgate", Panelist with Ulrike Gabriel, KP Ludwig John, Nancy Patterson, David Rokeby, and Akke Wagenaar.
Sponsored by Inter/Access and the Goethe Institute, Toronto, Ontario.
1995 "Three-space, Time-base, In-yer-face Art: The Aesthetics of Real Space Interactives",
Panelist with Doug Back, Chris Csikzentmihalyi, Louis Phillipe Demers + Bill Vorn, James Hagan, Ed Bennet + Eduardo Kac,
Theodore Krueger, Kenneth Rinaldo, and Gerfried Stocker (moderated by Simon Penny). ISEA95, Montreal, Quebec.
1995 "Robotica: O Cenario Homem-Maquina",
Panelist with David Rokeby, Lucia Santella, and Stellarc. Sponsored by Arte No Seculo XXI, Sao Paolo, Brasil.
1992 "MetaNetworks/MetaCulture"
Panelist with Robert Adrian, Jeff Mann, Heidi Grundmann, Nancy Patterson, Peter Sepp (also Hank Bull, Kit Galloway, Carl Loeffler,
Judy Malloy, Arthur Mattock, and Sheri Rabinowitz by telephone conference call), at A-Space, Toronto, Ontario.
1983 "Art and Telecommunications".
Panelist with Carl Helmers, Jr., David Leavitt, and Nam June Paik (moderated by Willowby Sharp) on the topic, "Robots",
at the School of Visual Arts, New York, N.Y.
1980 "Computer Culture Exposition".
Panelist with Bill Buxton, August Coppola, and Ruth Leavitt (moderated by Gary Michael Dault) on the topic, "The Arts".
Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario.
1978 "S/10: 10th Annual Sculpture Conference".
Panelist with Johnathan Benthall, Jack Burnham, Edward Ihnatowicz, Marshall McLuhan (moderated by Dr.Robert Arn)
on the topic, "Pygmalion or Pythagoras: Sculptural Response to Living Systems". York University, Toronto, Ontario.
Agents
1979-85 Al Mattes, The Music Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1970-77 The Electric Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
1969-70 Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, Ontario.
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