Amenda Tate

Lives and works in West Des Moines, IA, USA

Artist statement

I create collaborative art that explores movement, our relationship to technology, and the understanding of what it means to be human including the ways in which "humanness" can be denied. I use custom-designed technology, traditional mediums, and social interactions to foster connectedness. My work encourages audiences to think critically about their relationship to one another in a vast and ubiquitous digital world. In Latin, the word Manibus means “from the hand.” I created the Manibus robotic painting device to utilize as an extension of the artist’s hand. A dancer wears a motion-sensing remote directing Manibus to render an artistic depiction of elapsed time and motion. Using this tool, I capture and translate the movement and visceral dynamics of dance into painted works of art. I facilitate collaborative processes as a director combining the necessary components for creating the work of art. With a nod to Abstract Expressionism, I allow for spontaneity in the mark, but utilize my own set of constraints to orchestrate order in the process. I determine the scale, width of the brush, the color, the starts and stops, while resigning myself to accept some aspects of the output as they occur. In the spirit of Happenings, I encourage the contribution of creative energy within a prescribed structure. My process yields an observable abstract representation of what has transpired. It is an opportunity to analyze the fleeting movements of dance. The works take shape as dynamic...

Artwork