About Karen O'Rourke
Born 1951. Karen O'Rourke is an American artist, art theorist and university teacher.
Karen O'Rourke is an artist and Emeritus Professor at Jean Monnet University in Saint-Etienne. Her personal work tends to relate artistic practice to the notions of network, archiving and territory. She has published numerous articles in journals (Leonardo, Livraison, Aperture, La revue du Cube, AI & Society, Figures de l'art, Plastik, etc.) and collective works (Art-RĂ©seaux, Territoires, Art++). She is the author of two works of synthesis; Walking and Mapping: Artists as Cartographers (MIT Press, 2013) and From arts-networks to programmed drifts: the relevance today of âart as experienceâ.
Selected publications
Books
Artworks and Exhibition catalogues
Art-RĂ©seaux, Paris, Les Ăditions du CERAP, 1992.
Paris RĂ©seau/Network bilingual CD-Rom, Paris, Les Ăditions du CERAP, 2000.
LâArchivage comme activitĂ© artistique/Archiving As Art, Paris, Archives de la crĂ©ation, 2000.
Territoires (dir.), catalogue dâexposition, Galerie Michel Journiac, du 16 au 30 juin 2011, Paris, APESA, UniversitĂ© Paris 1, 2013
Articles published in books
âCity Portraits ou lâinterprĂ©tation des imagesâ, Art-RĂ©seaux (dir. K. OâRourke). Paris, Ă©d. du CERAP, 1992, 42-51.
âArt, media and telematic spaceâ (âDie Kunst, die Medien und der Telematische Raumâ), Teleskulptur, Entgrenzte Grenzen 2 (ed. Richard Kriesche) Kulturdata, Graz, Autriche, 1993, 88-98.
âArt, rĂ©seaux, tĂ©lĂ©communicationsâ, Mutations de lâimage : Art CinĂ©ma/ VidĂ©o/ Ordinateur (eds. Maria Klonaris et Katerina Thomadaki) Paris, Astarti, 1994, pp. 52â57.
âA Map Larger than the Territoryâ, Acoustic Space Reader : Trans-Cultural Mapping Acoustic Space, RIXC, Riga, Latvia, 2004
"Dérives programmées [promenades assistées par ordinateur]," Art++, (ed. David-Olivier Lartigaud). Orléans, Editions HYX, 2011.
"Entretien avec Wilfried Hou Je Bek » and « Entretien avec Jo Walsh », Art++, (ed. David-Olivier Lartigaud). Orléans, Editions HYX, 2011.
"CartâExpĂ© : expĂ©rimentations et cartographies pluridisciplinaires" (co-author : Thierry Joliveau), in Vincent Ciciliato, dir., Collecter, cataloguer, cartographier, Publications Universitaires de Saint-Etienne, 2020.
"Vivre en anarchive : entretien avec Anne-Marie Duguet" in Vincent Ciciliato, dir., Collecter, cataloguer, cartographier Publications Universitaires de Saint-Etienne, 2020.
Articles published in referee journals
âThe Artistâs Book and Photography: the Example of Michael Snowâs Cover to Coverâ, la Revue Française dâEtudes AmĂ©ricaines, N°8, 1979
âNotes on âFax-Art'â, New Observations N° 76 (New York, mai/juin 1990), pp. 24â25. Republished in Hungarian and English ĂrnyĂ©kkötĆk Co-Media, Budapest, N° 19, pp. 47â52.
âCity Portraits: an Experience in the Interactive Transmission of Imaginationâ, Leonardo (Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology), vol. 24, N° 2, 1991.
âParis RĂ©seauâ, Epiphaneia, N°1 (Recherches en esthĂ©tique et technologie), pp. 42â43, Naples, Italie, 1995.
âParis RĂ©seau: Paris Networkâ, Leonardo : Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, Vol. 29, N° 1(M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass.,), 1996, pp. 51â57.
âArte e Comunicação, Arte de Redes: PrĂĄticas e ProblemĂĄticasâ, Cadernos PĂłs Graduação, Ano 2, vol.2, n°2, Instituo de Artes, Campinas, BrĂ©sil, 1998, pp 9â17.
âLâarchivage comme pratique artistiqueâ, Archives de la CrĂ©ation (sous la direction de Costin Miereanu et Michel Blay) Rapport du CNRS, 1999.
âParis RĂ©seau, Paris Networkâ, AI & Society: the Journal of Human-Centred Systems and Machine Intelligence vol.14, n°2, numĂ©ro spĂ©cial consacrĂ© Ă lâesthĂ©tique des bases de donnĂ©es, 2000, pp. 214â222.
âTrajectoires et perspectives des bases de donnĂ©es: la reprĂ©sentation en ligne de lâexpĂ©rience spatio-temporelleâ (co-author: S. Daniel), Actes du colloque Artmedia 8: de lâEsthĂ©tique de la communication au net art, Ligeia, Paris, 2003
âBases de donnĂ©es : Trajectoires et perspectivesâ (co-author S. Daniel), Plastik N° 3, automne 2003, CERAP/UniversitĂ© Paris 1, Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, pp. 169â176.
âUne carte plus grande que le territoireâ, Livraison N°4, RhinocĂ©ros, Strasbourg, 2004.
â[Mapping the Database] Trajectories and perspectivesâ(co-author: Sharon Daniel), in Leonardo, Volume 37, Issue 4 (Aug. 2004)
"Ruines Ă lâenvers", Les IrrAIductibles, Espaces de jeu et enjeux dans lâart, UniversitĂ© Paris 8, N° 8, 2005, pp. 353â371.
"Art Work/ Dream Work in New Media Documentary", Leonardo Electronic Almanach (From New Media to Old Utopias: âRedâ Art in Data Capitalism) 2014.
"StratĂ©gies dâadaptation pour lâAnthropocĂšne : une randonnĂ©e et une carte. » [plastik] [online], Plastik #04 Art et biodiversitĂ© : un art durable ?, 15 fĂ©vrier 2014. ISSN 2101-0323.
"The Gift : le don et ses rĂ©seaux", Figures de lâart, n° XXIX, fĂ©vrier 2015. English translation: The Gift and its networks.
âFrom Networked Art to Programmed Driftsâ (abstract HDR), Leonardo, Vol. 48, Issue 5, October 2015, p. 480. Also online: Top Ranked LABS Abstracts 2014.
"Remapping the Neighborhood," Antiatlas Journal N°4, 2020.
"Tranche-montagne", Nouvelle revue dâesthĂ©tique, 2023/2 (n° 32), p. 113-116. DOI : 10.3917/nre.032.0113. URL : https://www.cairn.info/revue-nouvelle-revue-d-esthetique-2023-2-page-113.htm
Articles published in conference proceedings
âEsthĂ©tique de la souillure fĂ©minineâ, dans les Actes du colloque Lâenjeu de la reprĂ©sentation: le corps, organisĂ© par Michel Journiac, Sorbonne, UniversitĂ© de Paris I, 1988, pp. 19â26. RééditĂ© dans Michel Journiac, Lâenjeu de la reprĂ©sentation: le corps, Ed. du CERAP, 1998
âArt Projects for the Web: The ArtChivist Siteâ dans X Encontro Nacional da ANPAP (Associação Nacional de Pesquisadores em Artes PlĂĄsticas), SĂŁo Paulo, ANAIS 99, BrĂ©sil, 1999, vol.1, pp. 25â34.
âA Map Larger than the Territoryâ, ICHIM 04, Berlin, Actes du Colloque International, 2004.
"Partially Buried University », ISEA 2011, Istanbul 14-21 Septembre 2011, http://isea2011.sabanciuniv.edu/paper/partially-buried-university
"Walking and Mapping: Everyday Technologies and Artistic Engagement. », in Chihiro Minato (dir.), Timewalker : Media and Memory in a Mobile Society. Proceedings of the International Convention on Media Arts, Tokyo.
"GĂ©olocalisation en temps rĂ©el : âla fin des cartesâ » Actes de LâOBS/IN (Observatoire des pratiques de crĂ©ation de lâimage numĂ©rique) #4, Marseille, dĂ©cembre 2015, pp. 94-101.
âCartâExpĂ©@IPEm : Cartographies expĂ©rimentales et camĂ©ras embarquĂ©esâ, in Venturelli, S. et C. Rocha, Actes du colloque 15 Art. Encontro Internaconal de Arte e Tecnologia. Brasilia, Museu Nacional do Conjunto Cultural da RepĂșblica et Universidade de BrasĂlia, Instituto de Artes, 2016, p. 430-437.
"CartâExpĂ©@IPEm : Cartographies expĂ©rimentales et camĂ©ras embarquĂ©es », in Biagio DâAngelo, François Soulages et Suzete Venturelli, dirs. De la photographie au post-digital. Du contemporain au post-contemporain, Paris, LâHarmattan, 2017.
Other articles and exhibition catalogues
â Paris RĂ©seau â, catalogue de lâexposition Art Tecnologia, Arte no sĂ©culo XXI : a humanização das tecnologias, Museu de Arte ContemporĂŁnea (MAC-USP), SĂŁo Paulo, BrĂ©sil, 1995.
âParis RĂ©seau/Networkâ, Des livres Ă venir, Enghien-les-bains, du 12 janvier au 14 fĂ©vrier; Auvers-sur-Oise du 15 mars au 16 avril; Argenteuil, du 6 mai au 31 mai, 2004; Taverny en octobre 2004 (catalogue).
âTous collectionnĂ©s, repĂ©rĂ©s et fichĂ©s, lâart et lâarchivageâ entretien avec DaphnĂ© Le Sergent in « Lâesprit de collection », Area N°9 printemps 2005
« Eavesdroplets@Dispatx », Authoring Software, Judy Malloy, ed., https://www.narrabase.net (novembre 2010).
« Partially Buried Utopie », la Revue du Cube, N°2, mars 2012, https://www.cuberevue.com/ PDF RevueCube-2-Web
âAn Inmateâs Diaryâ (short text on a photograph by Ahlam Shibli), What Matters Now, Aperture Magazine N°213, Winter 2013.
âReview of Re-collection: Art, New Media, and Social Memoryâ, Leonardo Reviews, February 2015.
Awards
In 1997 she received the Leonardo Award for Excellence.
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Important facts
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Frequently asked questions
Who is Karen O'Rourke?
American artist
When was Karen O'Rourke born?
Karen O'Rourke was born in 1951.
What is Karen O'Rourke's occupation?
Karen O'Rourke is an artist, art theorist and university teacher.
What nationality is Karen O'Rourke?
Karen O'Rourke is American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Karen O'Rourke. https://biography.guide/karen-o-rourke/
MLA: "Karen O'Rourke." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/karen-o-rourke/.
Chicago: "Karen O'Rourke." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/karen-o-rourke/.
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