Elizabeth Vander Zaag (born 21 June 1952) is a Canadian media artist, writer, and entrepreneur who has been working in video and computer arts since the 1970s. She is based in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. Vander Zaag is considered a pioneer of digital media. Her work has been exhibited internationally and included in exhibitions such as ''c.1983'' that examine the history of video art.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Vander Zaag was born in

Alliston, Ontario Alliston is a settlement in Simcoe County, Ontario, Simcoe County in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It has been part of the Town of New Tecumseth, Ontario, New Tecumseth since the 1991 amalgamation of All ...

in 1952. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and film from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

. She also studied creative electronics at

Fanshawe College Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology, commonly shortened to Fanshawe College, is a public college in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is partnered with private ILAC International College. One of the largest colleges in Canada, it ha ...

in London, Ontario. After moving to Vancouver, British Columbia in 1974, Vander Zaag briefly studied computer arts at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

in nearby

Burnaby, British Columbia Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard ...

. In 2007, she received her master's degree in

interdisciplinary studies Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. Her graduate thesis, ''Mother Tongue : a study of participant affect in an interactive installation,'' combines research in

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and

human–computer interaction Human–computer interaction (HCI) is the process through which people operate and engage with computer systems. Research in HCI covers the design and the use of computer technology, which focuses on the interfaces between people (users) and comp ...

to further her understanding of the academic context of her interactive speech installations. Along with her graduate thesis, Vander Zaag produced an interactive video installation entitled ''Speaking Mother Tongues'' (2007).

Career

Between 1977 and 1980, Vander Zaag created the ''Digit Series'', a videotape series that was featured on the cable television program ''The Gina Show'' by producer John Anderson. The ''Digit Series'' explored both gender and technology. The ''Digit Series'' has been included in exhibitions such as the ''International Symposium on Electronic Art'' in 2015. In 1981 Elizabeth Vander Zaag produced ''Thru the Holes'', a short video in which the fragmentation of the video screen was used as a filter for human presence. This and other video works by Vander Zaag from the 1980-1990s are distributed by Video Out and V/Tape. ''Thru the Holes'' has been included in a number of retrospective exhibitions. ''SyntheticSound: An Experimental Music/Video Retrospective'' (2016) examined experimental video and music from the 1970s onward. It was curated by Alan Kollins for the transmediale/CTM Vorspiel festival in 2016 and screened in both Canada and Germany. Vander Zaag's work is included to illustrate experimentation with video processing occurring in the 1980s. ''c.1983'' (2012) examined the development of video art, and the ways in which artists such as Vander Zaag "critiqued the commodification of the art object through the expansion of the powers and capacities of the photographic image." Vander Zaag's work ''Hot Chicks on TV'' (1986) was included in the exhibition '' Rebel Girls: A Survey of Canadian Feminist Videotapes 1974-1988'', curated by Susan Ditta at the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

in 1989. There it was discussed in the context of women's history, representations of the female body, and relationship of the personal to the political. In 2000, Elizabeth Vander Zaag's voice interactive installation ''Talk Nice'' appeared at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (formerly Banff Centre) is an arts and culture educational institution in Banff, Alberta, Banff, Alberta. It offers arts programs in the Performing arts, performing and fine arts, as well as leadership trai ...

before traveling in Canada and to

Seoul, Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Sao Paulo, Brazil SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

and Paris. In 2011, Vander Zaag became the CEO of Mermaid Power Corporation. Mermaid Power has since merged with Neptune Wave, where Vander Zaag is now the CFO. She has also managed companies such as Front Media Ltd, CougarDate.com, Ross House Holdings Ltd. She is the director of North Arm Holdings Ltd.

Collections

Elizabeth Vander Zaag's work is in the following museum collections: *

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Fr ...

Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the campus of the University of British Columbia. The gallery is housed in a building designed by architect Peter Cardew which opened in 1995 ...

* Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vander Zaag, Elizabeth 1952 births Living people Artists from Ontario Canadian video artists Canadian women video artists People from New Tecumseth University of British Columbia alumni