Angela Washko is an American new media artist and

facilitator A facilitator is a person who helps a Social group, group of people to work together better, understand their common objectives, and plan how to achieve these objectives, during meetings or discussions. In doing so, the facilitator remains "neut ...

based in New York. After nine years as a professor of art at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

, she is currently the Catherine B. Heller Collegiate Professor of Art at

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Washko mobilizes communities and creates new forums for discussions of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

where they do not exist. Washko is the founder of the Council on Gender Sensitivity and Behavioral Awareness in World of Warcraft to bring attention to and protest the sexist language from players in the game. Washko has been creating performances inside the online video game ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a 2004 massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X. Set in the '' Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of War ...

'' (WoW) since 2012 in which she initiates discussions about feminism within the gameplay. In 2015, Washko presented an ongoing project focused on noted pick-up artist

Roosh V Daryush Valizadeh (born June 14, 1979), also known as Roosh Valizadeh, Roosh V and Roosh Vorek (or Vörek), is an American former alt-right blogger and pickup artist. Valizadeh wrote on his personal blog and also owned the ''Return of Kings'' we ...

, called Banged. The project was initially supported by a Rhizome at the

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum at 235 Bowery, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-nam ...

Internet Art Microgrant. Her video game project "The Game: The Game" premiered in 2018 in a solo exhibition at the

Museum of the Moving Image The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Am ...

in New York.

Johanna Fateman Johanna Rachel Fateman (born May 16, 1974) is an American writer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She is a member of the electropunk band Le Tigre and founded the band MEN (band), MEN with Le Tigre bandmate JD Samson. Early life an ...

named "The Game: The Game" at Museum of the Moving Image as one of the top ten exhibitions of 2018 for

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

Rhizome (organization) Rhizome is an American not-for-profit arts organization that supports and provides a platform for new media art. History Artist and curator Mark Tribe founded Rhizome as an email list in 1996 while living in Berlin.net art upright=1.3, "Simple Net Art Diagram", a 1997 work by Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden Internet art (also known as net art or web art) is a form of new media art distributed via the Internet. This form of art circumvents the traditional dominance o ...

. In 2021, Angela Washko moved into film-making by directing a documentary film called Workhorse Queen. After premiering at

Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival is held in Los Angeles in late February and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization. The organization ...

and a long international

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

run, the film was released in June 2022 for television broadcast and streaming on

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

, and additionally became available for VOD on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

Apple TV Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...

, and

Vudu Fandango at Home (formerly known as Vudu) is an American digital video store and streaming service owned by Fandango Media, a joint-venture between NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. The company offers transactional video on demand re ...

. Workhorse Queen is distributed by Breaking Glass Pictures. Washko was the recipient of the Best Documentary Feature award at American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, and the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at Buffalo International Film Festival. In 2020, Angela Washko was awarded the

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has co ...

Award for her new video game project "Mother, Player." In 2023, she received the

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

Fellowship in the Media category.

Work

In 2014,

Creative Time Creative Time is a nonprofit arts organization based in New York City. Founded in 1974, it supports the commissioning, production, and presentation of site-specific and socially engaged public art projects. History Creative Time was founded i ...

commissioned an essay from Washko on her findings as the self-founded Council on Gender Sensitivity and Behavioral Awareness in

. She is the first person to ever sell a

Vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

video. The video was bought by Dutch art advisor, curator and collector Myriam Vanneschi for $200 at the Moving Image Art Fair. The title, "Tits on Tits on Ikea" was an extension to a Vine selected as a runner-up in a project called "The Shortest Video Art Ever Sold," curated by Marina Galperina and Kyle Chayka, submitted to the #VeryShortFilmFest. Her video work "Chastity" won the Terminal Award from the Center of Excellence in the Creative Arts at

Austin Peay State University Austin Peay State University (APSU) () is a public university in Clarksville, Tennessee, United States. Standing on a site occupied by a succession of educational institutions since 1845, the precursor of the university was established in 1927 ...

. She was the 2013 to 2014 Recipient of the Franklin Furnace Fund Grant for her

performances. In 2020, she was awarded the Creative Capital Award. In 2018, she exhibited her new work "The Game: The Game" at the Museum of the Moving Image. ''The Game: The Game'' takes the form of a dating simulator, pitting you against six men who are aggressively vying for your attention at a bar. "The Game: The Game" additionally won the 2018 Impact Award at

Indiecade IndieCade is an international juried festival of independent games. Game types include video games, live-action games, and tabletop games. Independent game developers are selected to demo, screen, and promote their work at the annual IndieCade fe ...

. In 2021, Angela Washko's first feature-length documentary film about Mrs. Kasha Davis and the Rochester drag community, Workhorse Queen, premiered at the

Art practice

Washko's interdisciplinary practice of performance, video, and installation investigates public opinion regarding proper etiquette, appropriate lifestyle choices, limited gender designations. She works in mostly online public spaces of contemporary American culture in order to reach a larger audience with a feminist discourse. Her work has been exhibited by the

Museum of the Moving Image (London) The Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) was a museum of the history of cinema technology and media sited below Waterloo Bridge in London. It was opened on 15 September 1988 by Prince Charles and at the time, was the world's largest museum devoted ...

in the National #Selfie Portrait Gallery, Biennial of the Americas in The World is !Flat, Denver Digerati in Denver, Colorado, Transfer Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, and Super Art Moderne Museum: Spamm. She was a contributing writer for Animal NY.

Curatorial and related activities

Washko has organized exhibitions and programs at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, Flux Factory, and Temple University's

Tyler School of Art The Tyler School of Art and Architecture is part of Temple University, a large, urban, public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Tyler currently enrolls about 1,350 undergraduate students and about 200 graduate st ...

. She curates and compiles A Feminist Art Movement Online, an archive of artists, writers, curators, and cultural producers with various practices addressing issues regarding gendered experiences. These practitioners primarily make and/or distribute their work online and contribute to a shift in making the internet a more inclusive space for women and their cultural work. She was the Department Events Coordinator of Visual Arts at the

until 2015. She has written for ''dpi Magazine.'' In 2013 she hosted the podcast "A Cups" with new media artist Ann Hirsch, made possible by the Radiohive collective in which they interviewed guests such as Nate Hill, Carla Gannis,

Chris Gethard Christopher Paul Gethard (; born May 23, 1980) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He was the host of ''The Chris Gethard Show'', a talk show based in New York City, which aired from 2011 to 2018. He hosts the podcasts ''Beautiful Stories ...

, and Genevieve Belleveau. In 2017, she curated the exhibition "Hacking/Modding/Remixing as Feminist Protest" at the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Education

Washko graduated in 2009 from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

in Painting/Drawing/Sculpture. She studied at the Post Graduate Apprentice Program at

The Fabric Workshop and Museum The Fabric Workshop and Museum, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a non-profit arts organization devoted to creating new work in new materials and new media in collaboration with emerging, nationally, and internationally recognized artis ...

in 2009. She graduated in 2015 with a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

in Visual Art from the

Exhibitions

2015 * ''The Council on Gender Sensitivity and Behavioral Awareness in World of Warcraft: LIVE'',

Dixon Place Dixon Place is a theater organization in New York City dedicated to the development of works-in-progress from a broad range of performers and artists. It exists to serve the creative needs of artists—emerging, mid-career and established—who ...

(New York, NY). Presented by Franklin Furnace Archive. * ''Memory Burn'', July 10 - August 16, 2016, Bitforms Gallery (New York, NY). 2016 * ''XXI Triennale International Exhibition: 21st Century Design After Design'', Game Video/Art: a Survey, Contemporary Hall Gallery, IULM University (Milan, Italy). Curated by Matteo Bittanti e Vincenzo Trione. * ''The 3rd Shenzhen Independent Animation Biennale,'' Dec 2nd, 2016 - March 2, 2017, C2 Space, OCT-LOFT (Shenzhen, China). * ''Performing in Public (Four Years of Ephemeral Actions in World of Warcraft),'' Gallery@CALIT2 at University of California - San Diego. * ''The Game: The Game'', Transfer Gallery (New York, NY). 2017 * ''The Game: The Game 2.0'', Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Arts Center (Buffalo, NY).

Solo exhibition A solo show or solo exhibition is an art exhibition, exhibition of the work of only one artist. Rather than a group of artists who collaborate to form an exhibition. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photogr ...

. * ''Haunted Machines and Wicked Problems'',

Impakt Festival The Impakt Festival is a yearly wikt:manifestation, manifestation on media art, founded in 1988 in the city of Utrecht, Netherlands. It showcases films, video art, performances, music, Trade conference, conferences and other special events with ...

(Utrecht, NL). * ''Nonlinear Perspectives,'' Gray Area Foundation for Arts and Technology (San Francisco, CA). * ''Survival Rates In Captivity (Free Will Mode #5) (2017),'' Blinding Pleasures, February 10 - March 18, arebyte Gallery, (London, UK). Curated by Filippo Lorenzin. 2018 * ''The Game: The Game'',

(New York, NY). Solo exhibition curated by

Jason Eppink Jason Eppink (born 1983) is an American curator, designer, and prankster. His projects emphasize participation, mischief, surprise, wonder, generosity, transgression, free culture, and anti-consumerism, and they are staged in public spaces and onl ...

. * ''Poking The Hive'',

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

Gallery (Fairfax, VA). Solo exhibition. * ''States of Play: Roleplay Reality'',

FACT A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

(Liverpool, UK). * ''PlayTime'',

Peabody Essex Museum The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and th ...

(Salem, MA). * ''Indiecade Festival'' (Los Angeles, CA). * ''Indiecade Europe'', Conservatoire National Des Arts et Metiers (Paris, France). 2019 * ''Open World: Video Games & Contemporary Art'',

Akron Art Museum The Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, United States. The museum first opened on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library. The Institute offered clas ...

(Akron, OH). 2020 * ''SITUATIONS / STRIKE'', Fotomuseum Winterthur (Zurich, Switzerland). 2021 * ''Point of View'', STUK House for Dance, Image, and Sound (Leuven, Belgium). Solo exhibition. * ''GAMExCINEMA'',

Korean Film Archive The Korean Film Archive (KOFA; ), or the Korean Federation of Film Archives, is the sole film archive in South Korea with nationwide coverage. It was founded in Seoul in 1974 as a non-profit organization. In 1976 KOFA joined the International Fe ...

(Seoul, South Korea). * American Film Festival (Wroclaw, Poland). *

(Park City, UT). * Documentary Edge New Zealand (Auckland, New Zealand). * Bentonville Film Festival (Bentonville, Arkansas). *

Milwaukee Film Festival The Milwaukee Film Festival is a public film festival held each spring, typically from late April through early May, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The festival is organized by Milwaukee Film, a cultural arts organization that operates Milwaukee's his ...

(Milwaukee, WI). *

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational fo ...

(Maitland, FL). * TLV Fest (Tel Aviv, Israel). * Vancouver Queer Film Festival (Vancouver, Canada). 2022 * ''Worldbuilding'', Julia Stoschek Collection (Düsseldorf, Germany). Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist. * ''Doc-O-Rama'',

Portland Art Museum The Portland Art Museum (PAM) is an art museum in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The Portland Art Museum has 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2), with more than 112,000 square feet (10,400 m2) of gallery space. The museum’s permanent c ...

and

Northwest Film Center PAM CUT–Center for an Untold Tomorrow, formerly the ''Northwest Film Center'' is a regional media arts resource and service organization based in Portland, Oregon, United States that was founded to encourage the study, appreciation, and utilizat ...

(Portland, OR). * ''Mixed Media: Angela Washko and Lucia Marcucci'', Temple University Rome Gallery (Rome, Italy). Two-person exhibition.

References

External links

*
The Game: The Game
- Webpage for Washko's project "The Game: The Game"
Workhorse Queen
- Website for Washko's documentary film "Workhorse Queen" *
Workhorse Queen: Rotten Tomatoes
- Rotten Tomatoes page for Washko's documentary film "Workhorse Queen"
Creative Capital Award: Angela Washko
-

website page for Washko's project "Mother, Player"
Gender Sensitivity and World of Warcraft
– Documentation of Washko's WoW Performances {{DEFAULTSORT:Washko, Angela 1986 births Living people Artists from Pennsylvania American new media artists American feminist artists University of California, San Diego alumni Temple University Tyler School of Art alumni American women film directors