Utilising the overlooked remnants of network culture to create his performances, films and exhibitions, Emile engages with the boundaries of language to explore contemporary digital selfhood. Often performing in cinemas or art spaces using monologue and everyday technological tools, his live performances locate the user of social platforms as a weary Everyman travelling through on-rail guided experiences. At present he is developing film and documentary projects from Studio 5 at the Boyd, a complex managed by the City of Melbourne’s Creative Spaces program.
Emile received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from RMIT Media Arts Melbourne before relocating to Amsterdam in 2007 to commence an MFA degree at the Sandberg Institute. In 2012 he began a two year studio residency at the prestigious Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam. Upon returning to Melbourne he undertook full-time practice-based doctoral research at Digital Ethnography Research Centre, Department of Media and Communication RMIT Melbourne, graduating in 2023. His research elaborated on the role of gesture and non-verbal communication within social media platforms and their relationship to the the first wave of lens-based Contemporary video art. He is currently teaching at Victorian College of Art and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Recent exhibitions, screenings and performances of his have included QUAI10 Belgium, NGV Triennale, LIMA Amsterdam and Artshouse Melbourne. His work is profiled in Australiana to Zeitgeist: an A to Z of Australian Contemporary Art 2017 published by Thames and Hudson and is included in Routledge Companion to Mobile Media Art 2020.
Emile Zile
b. Melbourne, Australia
– abridged CV –
Education and research
- 2018-2022 PhD. Digital Ethnography Research Centre. RMIT Melbourne, Australia
- 2012-2014 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 2007-2009 MFA. Sandberg Institute. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 2004 BFA. Honours Media Arts. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Melbourne, Australia
- 1999-2001 BFA. Media Arts. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Melbourne, Australia
Selected Solo Performance
- ‘Logical Conclusions/Automation Effects’ ADM+S Symposium 2022
- ‘4500 Lumens’ NGV Triennale 2021
- ‘Performer/Audience/Lens after Dan Graham’ LIMA Amsterdam, January 15 2020
- ‘Liquid Cooled’ Modern Art Oxford, April 27 2019
- ‘Liquid Cooled’ LIMA Amsterdam, April 26 2017
- ‘Desktops’ Fort Delta, Melbourne November 21 2015
- ‘James Cameron’s Avatar’ Mes56 Jogjakarta November 21 2014
- ‘DVD Burner’ Netherlands Institute for Media Art, Amsterdam October 19 2012
- ‘Subtitle Kino’ Fargfabriken, Stockholm Sweden August 18-19 2012
- ‘*Best*RapidEssayNSFW!!’ Video Vortex, Amsterdam March 12 2011
- ‘Post-It Kino’ Today’s Art Festival, Den Haag September 26 2009
- ‘One million Paradiso Guitar Solos’ Palais Paradiso, Paradiso Amsterdam September 18 2009
- ‘Post-it Kino’ Bandit Mage Fesival, Bourges France May 7 2009
- ‘0 Views. 0 Comments. 0 Responses.’ Mediamatic Amsterdam March 25 2009
- ‘Phantom Mass’ multi-channel sound performance, Melbourne Arts Festival October 2008
Selected Screenings
- ‘Becoming The Icon’ Campbelltown Arts Centre/Artshouse Melbourne. 2020
- ‘Western Digital’ Sydney Contemporary, curated by ACMI Melbourne. 2015
- ‘Jack’ screening at Contemporary Art Singapore 2015
- Boo Australia, Matucana 100, Santiago, Chile April 24 – May 27 2012
- Rojo Nova Audiovisual Sessions, Sao Paulo Brazil July 1 – August 15 2010
Artist Talks
- Art+Film, Artist talk and interview with Philip Brophy, ACMI Melbourne 2018
- Liquid Cooled, Artist talk and interview with Sven Lütticken, LIMA Amsterdam 2017
- Writing and Concepts, RMIT Melbourne 2016
Residencies, Masterclasses
- Saas-Fee Summer Institute of Art, L.A. ‘Art and Politics in the age of Cognitive Capitalism’ 2018
- May 2010 Mike Figgis Masterclass, Cinema Rialto Amsterdam May 2009