Alison Bennett

Contact details

DSC | School of Art

Imaging Futures Lab (Co-lead)

CAST Contemporary Art and Social Transformation Research Group - Queer(y)ing Creative Practice (Theme Leader)

Email: alison.bennett@rmit.edu.au

Phone: +61 39925 6248

Campus: Melbourne City

Programs

Master of Photography

Bachelor of Arts (Photography)

Bachelor of Arts (Photography) (Honours)

More information

- ORCID

- Website

Dr Alison Bennett is a senior lecturer in photography at RMIT School of Art specialising in expanded photography, webXR, queer and feminist creative practices.

Overview

Dr Alison Bennett is a senior lecturer in photography at RMIT School of Art specialising in expanded photography, webXR, queer and feminist creative practices.

Dr Bennett is the School of Art Associate Dean Photography, supervises candidates in the PhD, Master of Photography and Bachelor of Arts (Photography) (Honours) programs; and teaches Digital Imaging Strategies course in the School of Art Masters suite.

They are co-lead of the Imaging Futures Lab, and co-lead of Queer(y)ing Creative Practice within CAST Contemporary Art and Social Transformation research group.

Industry experience

Dr Bennett is a founding member of QueerTech.io, a Melbourne-based collective of queer identifying artist working in digital media.

They have been a member of the Gertrude Street Projection Festival Artistic Advisory Committee since 2018 and served on a number of selection panels for the Midsumma Festival mentorship programs, including the Midsumma Pathways, a nine-month mentorship program for LGBTQIA+ artists with disability; and acted as a mentor in 2018. Dr Bennett was a judge for the Midsumma Festival Contemporary Art Prize in 2021 and a judge for the Centre for Contemporary Photography Salon 2020 awards. In early 2021, Dr Bennett served as a member of the Australia Council for the Arts Digital Advisory Group.

Research

Dr Bennett's research is firmly located within the emerging field of expanded photography, also known as imaging futures, post-photography, 21st century photography, and computational photography. Their work contributes to understanding and testing the emerging dynamics of photography diffused with ubiquitous computing. Expanded photography includes the expansion of photography from an isolated two-dimensional frame to a spatialized three dimensional field; and the shift from print to the accessible networked mesh of online presentation. As a photographic artist, Dr Bennett has established a reputation for innovative practice-led research that contributes to the evolving understanding of photography in the 21st century.

Research keywords

Photography, Post-photography, Expanded Photography, 21st Century Photography, Photography 4.0, Photogrammetry, WebXR

Research output summary

Publications

Projects

Awards

Supervisor interest areas

Expanded photography
Post-photography
21st century photography
Intersections with queer and feminist creative practices

Supervisor projects

Isabella Capezio: Bodies beyond the skin - How do we image/imagine queer landscapes through photography in the 21st century?

Liss Fenwick: Marginal Territories: Photography, liminality, and the frontier

J Rosenbaum: How do machines perceive gender? A study in gender and aesthetics of computer perceptions of humanity.

Nirma Madhoo: Augmented Constructions of the Fashion Body in New Media

Greg Penn: Hybrid interactions: the shaping of consciousness

Completions:

Zoe Bastin: Becoming (Again and Again): Transforming Patriarchal Hierarchies of Bodies and Objects Within Dance and Sculptural Practice, 2020

Feature publications

Queering virtual reality with drag realness: a case study of a creative investigation

Refractory Journal of Entertainment Media, Vol. 30

Bennett A, & Beckwith, M (2018).

Skin to Skin

Augmented Reality Art, Springer Series on Cultural Computing, p.161-174

Vincs, Bennett, McCormick, Vincent & Hutchinson, (2018).

Inverto. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology

Issue No. 7

Bennett, A., (2015).

Key publications by year

Expand all sections

Selected Exhibitions

Bennett, A (2021). [six works], INSIDE ELANDS curated by Dr Rey, The Lock Up, Newcastle.

Selected Exhibitions

Bennett, A. (2020). ‘Blossom Spheres’. Ars Electronica Kepler’s Garden, Austria, 2020; ‘Strange Space’, Centre for Projection Art, Melbourne, 2021.
Bennett, A. (2020). ‘Tinning Street Experiment’, The New Abnormal, RMIT Gallery.

Commissions

Bennett, A. (2020). ‘Bowen Street Point Cloud‘, collaboration with Dr Nilsalam, RMIT Creative Student Life.
Bennett, A. (2020). 'Turning In', webXR, West Projections Festival.

Selected Exhibitions

Bennett, A. (2019). ‘SKIN’. Federation Square Digital Façade, Melbourne Fringe, 2019; ‘Epicentre’, the wrong new digital art biennale, Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània Valencia, 2019.

Commissions

Bennett, A. (2019). 'SKIN’, Digital Façade of Federation Square, Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Book Chapters

Vincs, Bennett, McCormick, Vincent & Hutchinson, (2018). ‘Skin to Skin’, in Augmented Reality Art, Springer Series on Cultural Computing, p.161-174.

Refereed Journal Articles

Bennett A, & Beckwith, M (2018). ‘Queering virtual reality with drag realness: a case study of a creative investigation‘, Refractory Journal of Entertainment Media, Vol. 30

Selected Exhibitions

Bennett, A. (2018). ‘QueerTech.io Black Box Experiment’, Experimenta Social & Melbourne Art Week.

Selected Exhibitions

2017, ‘I am looking in a room’, video loop, West Projections Festival, Trocadero Gallery.
Bennett, A. (2017). ‘muliebrity’, 3d anaglyph video loop. muliebrity & other collaborations, Kingston Arts Centre, 2017 (solo); Hidden Agenda’, Trocadero Gallery, 2017.

Commissions

Bennett, A. (2017). ‘I am looking in a room’, four channel video loop data-projection, West Projections Festival.
Bennett, A. (2017). ‘muliebrity: the female gaze’, 3d anaglyph video, commissioned by Kingston Arts.

Selected Exhibitions

Bennett, A. (2016). ‘Reworlding (Elizabeth)’, by Bennett, Penn, Martino & Royal.
Conditional Surplus, Channels Festival, Fed Square, 2017; Lumen Prize long list, V&A Digital Futures 2017; CROSSROADS, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2017; PLAY, BLINDSIDE, 2017; Salon, CCP, 2016.
Bennett, A. (2016). ‘Virtual Drag’, VR by Bennett, Beckwith & Payne.
VR Lab, Rencontres Internationales, Musée du Louvre, 2019; Scottish Queer International Film Festival, 2018; Kaleidoscope VR 360 video channel, youtube.com, 2017; Encounters, Bristol, 2017; CinemaQ, Shanghai, 2017; DiGRA, Swinburne, 2017; Videonale, Kunstmuseum, Bonn, 2017; MELT, Brisbane, 2017; Twist 360, Seattle, 2016; 360Vision (mobile app), Screen NSW, 2016; Kaleidoscope Showcase, London, New York, Berlin, Los Angeles, Seoul, San Francisco, 2016; UNIT, Berlin, 2016; MQIFF, ACMI, 2016; Kaleidoscope, Melb, 2016; Testing Grounds, Midsumma, 2016.

Selected Exhibitions

Bennett, A. (2014). ‘INVERTO’.
Out is Out, Wyndham Art Gallery, 2020; Incinerator Art Award, Incinerator Gallery, 2018; QUEERTECH.IO = ART(URL, IRL); Midsumma, Melt, Sydney Mardi Gras, BLINDSIDE Play, FedTV, 2017; Homeostatis Lab, The Wrong New Digital Art Biennale, 2015; Salon, CCP, 2015; Gendered Perspectives, Harman Centre Gallery, USA, 2015; FILE, Brazil, 2015; Midsumma Testing Grounds, 2015 (solo exhibition); Forever Now, MONA FOMA, 2015

Feature projects

Blossom Spheres

Dr Alison Bennett

2020

Virtual Drag

Funded by the Australia Council for the Arts

VR by Dr Alison Bennett, Dr Megan Beckwith & Mark Payne.

2016

INVERTO

Dr Alison Bennett & AJ Kearns

2014

Key projects by year

Expand all sections

2021 Blossom (vegetal/digital), photogrammetry point-clouds, Verge Gallery, University of Sydney, Jan 2022
2021, ‘INSIDE ELANDS’, curated by Dr Una Rey, The Lock Up, Newcastle, 16 Apr – 30 May 2021.
Review by Keri Glastonbury in Artlink July 2021.
A Strange Space’ co-curated by Edwina Bartlem and Jacob Tolo for the Centre for Projection Art and the 2021 Midsumma Festival, Melbourne, 22-25 April 2021

2020, ‘Bowen Street Point Cloud‘, webXR point cloud collaboration with Dr Yazid Ninsalam, commissioned by RMIT Creative Student Life
2020, ‘Blossom Spheres’, photogrammetry point cloud webXR
‘FastLab Biomes Performance Experiment’ curated by Dr Rewa Wright in Ars Electronica Kepler’s Garden, Austria, 9-13 September 2020
2020, Tinning Street Experiment, The New Abnormal, RMIT Gallery 18 June – 2018 August 2020
2020, The Image Looks Back curated by Dr Alison Bennett, Associate Professor Shane Hulbert, Dr Rebecca Najdownski, & Professor Daniel Palmer, RMIT Gallery for PHOTO FESTIVAL
Out is Out, curated by Megan Evans & Caroline Esbenshade for Midsumma Festival, Wyndham Art Gallery, 6 February – 8 March 2020

2019, SKIN: neuroqueer entanglement’, moving image loop, commissioned by Melbourne Fringe
Federation Square Digital Façade, Melbourne Fringe Festival, 12-29 September 2019
‘Epicentre’, curated by systaime and David Quiles Guillo for the wrong new digital art biennale, Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània Valencia, 1 Nov 2019 – 1 Mar 2020 (Private site)
2019, ‘Neuroqueer’ interview for QR Code podcast, 3CR
Interview with Fareed Kaviani about the SKIN project, ‘Neuroqueer and tattoos: entangled and disembodied‘, Archer Magazine 12 Nov 2019

Scottish Queer International Film Festival 2018
Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change award, Incinerator Gallery, 13 Oct – 25 Nov 2018

2017, ‘I am looking in a room’, four channel video loop data-projection
West Projections Festival, Trocadero Gallery Studio Windows, 11-27 Aug 2017
2017, ‘muliebrity: the female gaze’, 3d anaglyph video loop, commissioned by Kingston Arts for Midsumma Festival
Hidden Agenda: An exploration of hidden & suppressed gender worlds, Trocadero Artspace, 22 Feb – 10 Mar 2017
muliebrity & other collaborations, Kingston Arts Centre, 20 Jan – 25 Feb 2017 (solo exhibition)
2016, ‘Reworlding (Elizabeth)’, online interactive collaborative work made by Bennett, Penn, Martino & Royal
Conditional Surplus, Channels Festival, Fed Square Big Screen, 1-10 Sept 2017
Lumen Prize long list announced at V&A Digital Futures 11 Jul 2017
CROSSROADS: The photon doesn’t give a damn, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 21 May 2017
An Act of Showing, Testing Grounds, 17 – 31 May 2017
PLAY, BLINDSIDE, 2 Jan – 12 Feb 2017

2016, ‘Reworlding (Elizabeth)’, online interactive collaborative work made by Bennett, Penn, Martino & Royal
Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, 25 Nov – 17 Dec 2016, Innovative Use of Digital Media award
2016, Virtual Drag: serving VR realness, virtual reality artwork made with Megan Beckwith & Mark Payne, supported by The Australia Council for the Arts.
Twist 360, Seattle, USA, Oct 2016
#SHEMAKES by Geek Girl Academy, 10 Sept 2016
360Vision (mobile app), Screen NSW, 2016
Kaleidoscope Showcase, London, New York, Berlin, Los Angeles, Seoul, San Francisco, 2016
UNIT Festival, Berlin, 16 Apr 2016
Melbourne Queer Film Festival, ACMI, 4 & 10 Apr 2016
Kaleidoscope World Tour of VR, Melbourne, 12 Apr 2016
Storia Salon presented by VRTOV as a satellite to the AIDC, 2 Mar 2016
Kingston Arts Centre Pop Up Lab program organised by Media Lab Melbourne, 12 Feb 2016
Testing Grounds, Midsumma Festival, 1-7 Feb 2016 (solo exhibition)

Homeostatis Lab, The Wrong New Digital Art Biennale, 1 Nov 2015 – 31 Jan 2016
Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, portraiture award, Dec 2015
Gendered Perspectives: an investigation into contemporary identities, Harman Centre Gallery, Bradley University, Chicago IL USA, 19 Nov – 10 Dec 2015
FILE Electronic Language International Festival, Brazil, Jun – Jul 2015
Midsumma Testing Grounds, 29 Jan – 8 Feb 2015 (solo exhibition)
Forever Now launch, MONA FOMA & broadcast into space, 18 Jan 2015

2014, Inverto, 24 photographs taken monthly over two years.
Featured on ABC TV Australian Story ‘From Daddy’s Tummy’ & international viral media coverage including New York Times. Inverto #19 won the CCP Salon Portraiture prize & was included in the Guardian’s best Australian photographs of 2015.
Wyndham Cultural Centre, Melbourne, 2 Sep – 3 Nov 2014 (solo exhibition)
Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery, Victoria, 18 Jul – 24 Aug 2014 (solo exhibition)
Theorizing the Web, New York City, Apr 2014
10×8 Gallery, Sydney, 25 Feb – 9 Mar 2014 (solo exhibition)

2013, Shifting Skin, giclee prints with augmented reality overlay.
International viral media coverage includes Mashable, ABC TV News & Augmented Reality Art Springer textbook.
Deakin University Art Gallery, Melbourne, 24 Jul – 31 Aug 2013 (solo exhibition)

Awards

Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Finalist

Award date: 2018

Recipients: Alison Bennett

Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change award, Incinerator Gallery, Finalist

Award date: 2018

Recipients: Alison Bennett

Lumen Prize, V&A Digital Futures, Long list

Award date: 2017

Recipients: Alison Bennett

Key awards by year

Expand all sections

2020 School of Art Community of Practice Award for Online Innovation

2019 Martin Cantor Portrait Prize, Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Finalist

2018 Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Finalist

2018 Incinerator Art Award: Art for Social Change award, Incinerator Gallery, Finalist

2017 Lumen Prize, V&A Digital Futures, Long list

2016 Innovative Use of Digital Media Award, Centre for Contemporary Photography Salon

2015 Portraiture Award, Centre for Contemporary Photography Salon

Public and media engagements

2021

Keynote and Plenary Conference Papers

2020 PHOTO IDEAS: SIMULATION Keynote by Alison Bennett, part of PHOTO IDEAS Feb 2021

Public Lectures, Seminars and Presentations

2021 Femmes & Thems CAST symposium (convenor)
2021 Seeing Queerly: Art & Queer Representation, RMIT Pride Week Panel
2021 ART + TECH: Gertrude Street Projection Festival Panel
2021 Generator Symposium (convenor), RMIT Imaging Futures Lab

Reports, Ministerial Addresses and Consulting

Australia Council for the Arts Digital Advisory Group 2021