Biographical Information
Cooper Battersby (b. 1971, Penticton British Columbia, Canada) and Emily Vey Duke (b. 1972, Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada) have been working collaboratively since 1994. They work in printed matter, installation, curation and sound, but their primary practice is the production of single-channel video. Their work has been exhibited in galleries and at festivals in North and South America and throughout Europe, including the Walker Center (Minneapolis), The Banff Centre (Banff), The Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver), YYZ (Toronto), The New York Video Festival (NYC), The European Media Arts Festival (Osnabruck), Impakt (Utrecht) and The Images Festival (Toronto). Their tape Being Fucked Up (2000) has been awarded prizes from film festivals in Switzerland, Germany and the USA. Bad Ideas for Paradise (2002) was purchased for broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and for the libraries at Harvard and Princeton, and has won prizes from the NYExpo (NYC) and the Onion City festival (Chicago). I am a Conjuror (2004) has received prizes from the Ann Arbor Film Festival and the Onion City Festival.
Emily Vey Duke received her BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and completed her Masters at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She then worked for a year as Artistic Director at the Khyber Centre for the Arts in Halifax, NS.
Cooper Battersby received his diploma in computer programming at Okanagan College, and completed his Masters at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was the recipient of a Canada Council Production Grant in 2001. Duke and Battersby are currently teaching at Syracuse University in Central New York.
Emily Vey Duke† & Cooper Battersby°
PLEASE NOTE: items marked ° pertain only to Cooper Battersby. Items marked † pertain only to Emily Vey Duke. Unmarked items pertain to both Duke and Battersby.
EDUCATION
| 2004 | Masters of Fine Arts, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago Illinois, full scholarship.° |
| 2003 | Masters of Fine Arts, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago Illinois, full scholarship. † |
| 1998 | Bachelor of Fine Arts, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax Nova Scotia. † |
| 1992 | Graduated Computer Information Systems, Okanagan College University, Kelowna BC.° |
AWARDS
| 2005 | Aliant New Media Award in the sum of $10,000 CDN. |
| Nominated for the Sobey Award, Canada’s most prestigious art award for young artists. | |
| Nominated for the Steam Whistle Art Award in the category “Best Solo Exhibition in an Artist Run Space” (The New Freedom Founders), Toronto ON. | |
| 2003 | Third Prize, Onion City Film Festival, Chicago Illinois (I am a Conjuror). |
| Prix de Varti, Ann Arbor Film Festival, (I am a Conjuror), Ann Arbor MI | |
| 2002 | Bronze Prize for Bad Ideas for Paradise, NYExpo, New York NY. |
| Honourable Mention for Bad Ideas for Paradise, Onion City, Chicago Illinois. | |
| 2001 | First Prize, Onion City Film Festival, Chicago Illinois, in the amount of $1000 USD. |
| Second Prize in the Videoex international competition, Zurich, Switzerland (for Being Fucked Up), in the amount of 1600 Swiss francs. | |
| Production Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts in the sum of $16,000.° | |
| Nominated for the Steam Whistle Art Award in the category “Best Solo Exhibition in an Artist Run Space”(The New Freedom Founders), Toronto ON. | |
| Production Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts in the sum of $16,000.° | |
| Jury award in the NoBudget Competition, KurzFilmAgentur Hamburg (for Being Fucked Up), in the amount of 2500 DM. |
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2006 | “Fantasia” (with Shary Boyle and Daniel Barrow). Jessica Bradley Art and Projects, Toronto ON. |
| 2005 | The New Freedom Founders, Video Pool, Winnipeg, MB. |
| 2004 | Curious About Existence. Mercer Union, Toronto ON. |
| Bad Ideas for Paradise. Eastern Edge Gallery, St John’s NL. | |
| The New Freedom Founders. Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago | |
| 2003 | Bad Ideas for Paradise. Khyber Centre for the Arts, Halifax, NS. |
| Untitled. Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago IL. | |
| 2001 | Strange Animals. Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver BC. |
| 1998 | Rapt and Happy. Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax NS. |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2007 | “Canada Winter Games Art Expo”. Yukon Art Centre, Whitehorse YK. |
| 2006 | Being Fucked Up, “Video Users” Tokyo Wonder Site, Videoart Centre Tokyo, Tokyo; REMO, Osaka, Japan. |
| Being Fucked Up and Curious About Existence, “Satellite of Love”. Witte de With Contemporary Art Centre, Rotterdam, NE. Works will also be broadcast on a digital television channel hosted by the Rotterdam International Filmfestival in collaboration with Witte de With. | |
| 2005 | A Cure for Being Ordinary, “Split Decisions”, V-Tape, Toronto ON. |
| Attention Public, “Growing Up Absurd”, Herbert Read Gallery, Kent, UK. | |
| Being Fucked Up, “Video Users”, +gallery Nagoya, Japan. | |
| New Freedom Founders, “ArtPort” Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax NS | |
| 2004 | Rapt and Happy, “Locus Suspectus”, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast UK; Truck Gallery, Calgary AB. |
| 2003 | Bad Ideas for Paradise and Being Fucked Up, “3rd Annual UK/Canadian Video Exchange”, The South London Gallery, London UK. |
| Perfect Nature World and Bad Ideas for Paradise, “Super Modern World of Beauty”, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff AB. | |
| Childhood, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond BC. | |
| 2001 | Being Fucked Up and Curious About Existence, “Satellite of Love”. Witte de With Contemporary Art Centre, Rotterdam, NE. Works will also be broadcast on a digital television channel hosted by the Rotterdam International Filmfestival in collaboration with Witte de With. |
| Being Fucked Up, “These Days”, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver BC. | |
| Being Fucked Up, “We all Love”, The Mission, London, UK. | |
| 2000 | Moderately Paced Video, “Attack / Retreat”, Argos, Brussels, Belgium. |
COLLECTIONS
| The University of Illinois at Chicago, IL | |
| Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. | |
| Lewis Manilow, Chicago IL. | |
| Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. | |
| The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | |
| The University of Toronto, Scarborough, ON | |
| The University of Guelph, ON | |
| McGill University, Montreal, PQ | |
| Ontario College of Arts and Design, Toronto, ON | |
| The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design | |
| The University of Western Ontario, London ON | |
| Syracuse University, Syracuse NY. | |
| V-Tape, Toronto ON. | |
| Video Out, Vancouver BC. | |
| Argos, Brussels, Belgium. | |
RETROSPECTIVE SCREENINGS
| 2005 | Art Star, Gallerie SAW Gallery, Ottawa, ON |
| 2004 | Pleasure Dome, Latvian House, Toronto ON. |
| Hallwalls, Buffalo NY. | |
| 2003 | Conversations at the Edge, Gene Siskel Center, Chicago IL. |
| 2002 | Everybody is Sick and Laughing a Little, Argos, Brussels, Belgium. |
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS AND SERVICE WORK
| 2005 | Visiting Artists: The University of Milwaukee, Milwaukee WI; University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago IL, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax NS; Faucet Media, Sackville NB. |
| Juror, Canada Council for the Arts, Ottawa ON. † | |
| Juror, Canada Council for the Arts, Ottawa ON. ° | |
| Member of the Interdisciplinary Committee and Best Practices sub-committee, Syracuse University. † | |
| 2004 | Visiting Artists, Hallwalls, Buffalo NY; Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto ON; University of Central Florida, Orlando FL; University of Buffalo, Buffalo NY. |
| Programming Committee, Women in the Director’s Chair Festival, Chicago IL. † | |
| 2003 | Visiting Artists, Detroit Filmmaker’s Coalition. Held workshop on Writing for Experimental Film. |
| 2002 | Visiting Artists: Syracuse University, Syracuse NY; Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto. Juror, Women In The Director's Chair Festival, Chicago IL. |
| “Dynamic Duos”panel discussion on Magnetic North, The Power Plant, Toronto ON. † | |
| 2001 | Visiting Artists: Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax NS; Concordia University, Montreal PQ. |
PUBLICATIONS
| 2005 | Spirituality and Endurance, Feature Article, spring issue of C Magazine. † |
| Suffering, Empathy, Art and the Greater Good, Feature Article, winter issue of C Magazine. † | |
| 2004 | Afterword, Witness My Shame, Shary Boyle, Conundrum Press. † |
| Essay for Don’t Let This Happen, an exhibition of works by Daniel Barrow at Mercer Union. † | |
| 2004 | Letter From Chicago, spring issue of C Magazine. † |
| Feature Article, fall issue of C Magazine. † | |
| 2003 | Letter From Chicago, fall issue of C Magazine. † |
| 2002 | The Fine Arts included on DVD for, Bridge Magazine. Other artists included David Cronenberg, Jim Trainor, Miranda July. |
| 2001 | Hollywood, Fuse Magazine |
| Childhood, Public Magazine. | |
| 2000 | Works included in Lux: Ten Years of Artist's Film and Video edited by Steve Reinke and Tom Taylor. |
| Untitled, Public Magazine. | |
| 1998 | Program notes for "Dan Graham: From Sunset to Sunrise". Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax NS. |
| 1997 | Program Notes for Alex Bag: The Artist's Mind, Pleasuredome screening, Toronto ON. |
| 1996 | "Robust Friendships and Lucid Dreaming", Mix Magazine. |
SELECTED SCREENINGS & BROADCASTS
| Zed TV, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | |
| The Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkley CA | |
| The Carnegie Institute, Washington DC. | |
| Walker Center, Minneapolis MN | |
| The Renaissance Society, Chicago. | |
| Cultural Centre, Chicago IL | |
| Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto ON. | |
| The Power Plant, Toronto ON. | |
| Art in General, New York, NY | |
| Centre d’art Contemporain, Basse-Normandie, FR | |
| Argos, Brussels, Belgium. | |
| Impakt, Utrecht, NL. (also chosen to travel in the Videogallery special selections program.) | |
| European Media Arts Festival, Osnabruek, DE | |
| Videoex, Zurich, Switzerland | |
| World Wide Video Festival, Amsterdam, NL | |
| Festival de Cinemas Different, Paris, France | |
| Transmediale, Berlin, DE | |
| Rencontres International Paris/Berlin, Paris FR | |
| Images Festival, Toronto ON. | |
| The Vancouver Film Festival, Vancouver BC. | |
| Women in the Directors Chair, Chicago, IL | |
| Moscow International Film Festival, Moscow, Russia. | |
| The UK/Canadian Video Exchange, curated by Cate Elwes and Maggie Warwick | |
| The New York Video Festival, New York NY. | |
| The NYExpo, New York NY. | |
| Mix NYC, New York NY. | |
| Cinema Project, Portland OR | |
| Lausanne Underground Film Festival, Lausanne, Switzerland | |
| L'Alternativa Festival, Barcelona, Spain | |
| TCorto Imola Festival, Imola, Italy | |
| Brighton Cinematheque, Brighton, UK | |
| Onion City Festival of Experimental Media, Chicago IL | |
| Splitski Film Festival, Split, Croatia. | |
| Sydney Film Festival, Sydney Australia | |
| L'Alternativa, Barcelona, Spain | |
| Dawson City Film Festival, Dawson City YK. | |
| The Vancouver Underground Film Festival, Vancouver BC. | |
| The Kino Arsenal, curated by Mike Hoolboom, Germany. | |
| Northwest Film and Video Festival, Portland OR. | |
| Seattle Underground Film Festival, Seattle WA. | |
| Media City, Windsor ON. | |
| Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL | |
| Rotterdam International Filmfestival |
TEACHING & OTHER RELEVANT EMPLOYMENT
| 2005 | Visiting Assistant Professors, Transmedia Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse New York. |
| Individual Course Appointment, Advanced Printed Matter, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design | |
| 2004 | Teaching Assistant, Teacher of Record, Introduction to Time Based Media, University of Illinois at Chicago.° |
| Artistic Director, Khyber Centre for the Arts, Halifax NS. (through 2005). | |
| 2003 | Teaching Assistant, Teacher of Record, Introduction to Time Based Media, University of Illinois at Chicago.° |
| Teaching Assistant, Teacher of Record, Introduction to Time Based Media and Video I (Spring 2003), University of Illinois at Chicago (Team taught). | |
| 2002 | Teaching Assistant, Teacher of Record, Introduction to Time Based Media. |
| Artist in Residence, Westtown Academy Alternative High School, Chicago Illinois (through spring 2004). | |
| 2000 | Distribution Manager, Video Out, Vancouver BC. (through 2001). |
| Lead Technician, Video In Studios, Vancouver BC. (through 2001)° | |
| Technician and Mentor, “Deaf @ VI”(a media access program for the deaf community in British Columbia; through 2001).° | |
| Instructor, Multimedia, Vancouver Community College.° | |