Born 1968, Davenport, IA
Lives and works in Oakland, CA and New York, NY

Kristin Lucas, who received her MFA from Stanford University in 2006, explores the fundamental relationships between humans and technology through her video projections and installations. Inhabiting the role of the main character in her works, Lucas creates cautionary tales about using technology. She is often seduced by the technology and then hurt by it in order to explain its psychological effects, which in many cases can develop into physical ailments as well. She believes, as humans with flaws, we create technology that inherits our flaws, and although technology was meant to help us, it usually serves to separate people from one another. Using a combination of digital media and real life objects, Lucas creates an immersive experience that balances the pros and cons of the rapid growth of technology.



5-Minute Break was inspired by a tour of the World Trade Center’s subbasement that Lucas took in 2000 while a resident artist in the North Tower. In the video, a female avatar travels through empty hallways and stairwells, encountering dead ends, faded graffiti, and trash. A benign version of the video game and film heroine Lara Croft, she roams around like a ghost—aimlessly going through the options she has been programmed to complete—as if the player had abandoned the controller. The video is dedicated to Robert Lynch, the Port Authority property manager who gave Lucas the sub-basement tour and died in the towers’ collapse in 2001.


5-Minute Break, 2001
digital video with sound
4 minutes, 35 seconds
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and And/Or Gallery, Dallas, TX