VNS Matrix
Established 1991 in Adelaide, Australia
Live and work in Adelaide and Sydney, Australia
V Barratt
Francesca da Rimini
Julianne Pierce
Josephine Starrs
White Bay Power Station
FLAME ME IF YOU DARE, 1993 (renamed and reprinted for exhibition 2024)
Text fragment from ‘Bitch Mutant Manifesto’
digital image, double sided banner printed on fabric mounted on aluminium frame
DNA Slits, 1993 (renamed and reprinted for exhibition 2024)
Original title ‘DNA Sluts’ exhibited as a lightbox and characters in ‘All New Gen’ CDROM and installation 1993
digital image, double sided banner printed on fabric mounted on aluminium frame
A Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century, 1991 (reprinted for exhibition 2024)
Originally produced as a 600cm x 300cm billboard for exhibition
digital image, double sided banner printed on fabric mounted on aluminium frame
Infiltrate, 1994 (reprinted for exhibition 2024)
Originally produced as a 400cm x 200cm lightbox for exhibition
digital image, double sided banner printed on fabric mounted on aluminium frame
SUCK MY CODE, 1996 (reprinted for exhibition 2024)
Text fragment from ‘Bitch Mutant Manifesto’
digital image, double sided banner printed on fabric mounted on aluminium frame
Oracle Snatch, 1993 (reprinted for exhibition 2024)
Originally created for ‘All New Gen’ installation, 1993
digital image, one sided banner printed on fabric mounted on aluminium frame
Soundscape from ‘All New Gen’ installation, 1993 (remixed 2024)
Originally created for the ‘All New Gen’ installation
audio, 20 mins
Sound engineers 1993 original version: Deb Shaw and Fiona Martin.
Soundscape remixed 2024 by Alex Davies
A Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century, 1991 (video created 2024)
video, 1:41 mins
Auslan performance: William Maggs; video production: Topbunk
A Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century, 1991
(reprinted for exhibition 2024)
one-sided mounted poster
A Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century, 1991
(reprinted for exhibition 2024)
Limited edition
one-sided printed poster copies
Presentation at the 24th Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body and generous assistance from Arts South Australia
Courtesy the artists
As they tell it, VNS Matrix crawled out of a cyberswamp in the summer of 1991, forged an unholy alliance with technology and its machines, then spewed forth a blasphemous text which was the birth of cyberfeminism. Both within Australia and globally, VNS Matrix was pivotal in envisioning a cyberutopia free from patriarchal and capitalist influences.
Their seminal piece, A Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century, positioned women as active participants in cyberspace and has remained influential in feminist discourse since the 1990s. At a time when play and creativity were largely overlooked in the digital industry, their subsequent projects – from computer games to virtual events – challenged conventional notions of domination and control.
While the larger goals of the cyberfeminism movement might not have been fully achieved, VNS Matrix’s work has undeniably laid foundational groundwork in feminist thought. In today’s multifaceted discourse on gender dynamics, VNS Matrix remains an emblematic testament to both the aesthetic and ideological potentials of resistance.
Australian (Adelaide/Tarntanya) feminist art collective VNS Matrix emerged in 1991 to challenge the male-dominated culture of technology and cyberspace. Their installations, happenings, posters, games, and manifestos explore the sexual, political, and aesthetic dimensions of gendered relationships with technology. They coined the term cyberfeminism to capture their radical vision of empowerment, embodiment, and resistance in the digital age. Notable works including A Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st Century have been widely translated and circulated. Their legacy continues to manifest, inspiring new generations of artists and activists. VNS Matrix is Josephine Starrs, Julianne Pierce, Francesca da Rimini, and V Barratt.
Read more about the 24th Biennale of Sydney, Ten Thousand Suns, by purchasing the catalogue here.