TRACEY BENSON, INC
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA

I have been working with digital media as an artist since 1996 and have significant experience lecturing in web design, video, graphic design, interactive design and digital media theory. More recent teaching at university includes media cultures and cross-media production. Dr Tracey Benson is an artist, writer and researcher currently based in Australia. Specialising in immersive and screen based media, locative media, inclusive design and site specific installations, her work has been presented in Australia, USA, Europe, New Zealand, India, South East Asia and Scandinavia. I am interested in the fragility of the landscape we take for granted in our everyday lives and our part within in it. Through our 21c lifestyles we are having a significant impact on the natural world around us. By an acknowledgement of the land, of history and memory, I seek to bring a mindfulness to how we view and inhabit the natural world on many levels. Other ways of encountering the landscape, through walking and quiet observation have also been a significant source of inspiration and contemplation. These humble walks have not only been a source of rich imagery and play, they have also been a way of balancing the hectic pace of modern life. We are overstimulated by technology, consumerism, and processed food. Sometimes it is important just to take a moment and step back from this hectic space into the realms of possibility – of daydreams and meditation. This is how we restore our energies and ability to manage in this busy world. As a two-year old, we moved to the northern Brisbane suburb of Aspley, where I spent many hours exploring the nearby bush and creek, much to my mother’s annoyance. As a child, I loved to disappear to explore the plants, lizards and butterflies, often imagining myself living there – making little gunyahs (shelters) out of tree branches and leaves. When I reflect on my childhood, I think I was a bit wild and maybe a bit of a handful for my parents to manage.