Simone Osthoff is Professor of Critical Studies in the School of Visual Arts at the Pennsylvania State University, where she is also the co-director of the S3A—Studio for Sustainability and Social Action. A Brazilian-born and US-based artist and writer, her research questions canonical histories and archives, and it ranges from Brazilian women working with media art to in-depth inquiries into the works of Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Paulo Bruscky, and Eduardo Kac, as well as the philosopher Vilém Flusser. She holds a Ph.D. from the European Graduate School, an MA degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA degree from the University of Maryland. Osthoff has lectured widely in museums, universities, and symposia worldwide. Her essays, translated into eight languages, include the journals “Leonardo,” “Flusser Studies,” “Ars,” and “Art Journal.” Osthoff’s multiple book chapters were published by the MIT Press, Routledge, La Maison de La Photographie, and the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, among others. She is the author of the book “Performing the Archive: The Transformation of the Archive in Contemporary Art from a Repository of Documents to an Art Medium,” and part of the editorial team of the multilingual journal Flusser Studies. Her artworks are included in a few museums and private collections and have been exhibited in venues such as the Chicago Cultural Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art of São Paulo, and the Documenta 12 in Kassel. Among awards and honorable mentions received is a Fulbright Fellowship.
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Education
- PhD from European Graduate School Saas-Fee, Switzerland, Magna Cum Laude in 2008
- MA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1996
- MFA from The University of Maryland College Park in 1991
- BA from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1977
- Studied at Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Laje, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1982
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Courses Taught
- Issues in Contemporary Art, Seminar
- Seminar on Contemporary Art
- MFA Program Graduate Seminar
- Women in Contemporary Art
- Poetics and Politics of Brazilian Art and Culture (author of the honors course).
- Art & Design Studio
- Art & Design Studio
- The Visual Arts and the Studio: An Introduction (honors course)
ABROAD COURSES
- Fulbright Lecture/Research Fellowship (Brazil)
- Cultural and Social Explorations in the Visual Arts (Australia)
- Beginning Drawing, Irish Landscape, Culture, and Literature (Ireland)
- Mexican Culture and Civilization (Mexico)
- Studio Special Topics: Drawing (Mexico)
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Honors + Awards
2019
- University Strategic Initiative Grants, Penn State University, Project title: “Studio for Sustainability and Social Action.” Project co-lead with Steve Carpenter; collaborators include Rebecca Strzelec (Altoona Coordinator), Yvonne Love (Abington Coordinator) and other partners from The School of Visual Arts, The Sustainability Institute and The College of Arts & Architecture.
2015
- College of Arts and Architecture, Penn State University, Incentives and Innovations Grant.
2012
- Institute for the Arts and Humanities, Interdisciplinary Group Grant. Project title: “Playing The Archive: Transforming Cross-Disciplinary Research Through Visual and Sonic Immersion,” with Nilam Ram, Brian Orland, Candice Ng, Simone Osthoff, and Mark Ballora.
2010
- Institute for the Arts and Humanities, Penn State University, Resident Scholar Fellowship. Research project As in Art, So in Media: “The Suplemento Dominical do Jornal do Brasil,” 1956-61.
- Instituto Sergio Motta, São Paulo, for participation in the Latin American Forum of the ISEA Ruhr, Germany.
2008
- Awarded Magna Cum Laude from the European Graduate School for the Ph.D. dissertation “Performing the Archive: The Transformation of the Archive in Contemporary Art from Repository of Documents to Art Medium.”
2007
- Recipient of “Outstanding Essay Award” from the Latin American Studies Association, Brazil Section, Montreal, Canada, Sept. 5-8 for the essay “Elsewhere in Contemporary Art: Topologies of Artists Works, Writings and Archives,” Art Journal, January.
2005
- Institute for the Arts and Humanities, Penn State University, Individual Faculty Grant. Project: “The Jornal do Brasil Sunday Supplement,” 1956-1961.
- Penn State University, College of Arts and Architecture, Faculty Research Grant Project: “The Jornal do Brasil Sunday Supplement,” 1956-1961.
2004
- Penn State University Roy C. Buck Award for the best essay published in the College of Arts and Architecture in 2004 (“Brazilian Counterparts: Old Histories and New Designs,” in “Women, Art, Technology,” Judy Malloy, ed. MIT Press, 2004).
2003
- U.S. Fulbright Fellowship Award for Lecture/Research in Brasília, Brazil. Campus Musa Project in partnership with Gê Orthof from the University of Brasília.
2002
- Institute for the Arts and Humanities, Penn State University, Individual Faculty Grant (with Carlos Rosas). Project title: “Emitto.net”
- Penn State University, College of Arts and Architecture, Faculty Research Grant (with Carlos Rosas). Project title: “Emitto.net”
2001
- Penn State University, College of Arts and Architecture, Faculty Research Grant to carry out research and do an interview in Paulo Bruscky’s archives, Recife, Brazil.
2000
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Faculty Enrichment Grant to carry out research in Brazil about women, art, and technology.
1998
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Faculty Enrichment Grant to carry out research in Brazil about Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica.
1991
- Awarded a grant by The Partners of The Americas Organization (Assistance Funds for Cultural Projects).
1990
- “47º Salão Paranaense,” Museum of Contemporary Art of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil. Acquisition Prize.
1987
- “Salão de Arte Contemporânea de Pernambuco, edição 87,” Recife, Brazil. Honorable Mention.
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Exhibitions + Productions
- Please see C.V. for list of exhibitions.
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Publications + Presentations
- Please see C.V. for list of publications and presentations.
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Service + Affiliations
REFEREED JOURNALS BOAR MEMBERSHIP AND EDITORIAL WORK
- Editorial Board of “Flusser Studies” (2013–present)
- Advisory Board of DAT Journal, Design, Art, and Technology (2017–present)
- Member of the Advisory Board of “Flusser Studies” (2008–2013)
- Member of the “Leonardo Reviews” panel (2000–present)
- Member of the Advisory Board of “Flusser Brasil” (2014–present)
- Member of the Advisory Board of “Ars,” Universidade of São Paulo (2014–present)
- Co-editor with Priscila Arantes of Flusser Studies #21, “Flusser and Design,” Spring 2016.
- Co-Editor with Anke Finger of Flusser Studies #19, “ReMEDIAting Flusser,” Fall 2014.
- Guest Editor of Flusser Studies #9, “Flusser and Art,” Spring 2009.
- Co-editorial coordination of the exhibition catalogue “What’s Fluxus? What’s not! Why,” Jon Hendricks, curator; Evandro Salles org., Brasília: Banco do Brasil and the Gilbert & Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection Foundation, 2002. [Bilingual in Portuguese and English].
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
- College Art Association; ISEA-International Symposium on Electronic Art
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Expertise
- Artist
- Scholar
- Reader
- Writer
- Cultural Translator
- Contemporary Art and Archives
- Brazilian Art
- Concrete and Neoconcrete Art
- Media Art in the 1980s and 90s
- Vilém Flusser
- “Speed Dating Artists’ Books”
Collected Works
