Janene Higgins' videos and digital media have been described as "abstract narratives: undefinable journeys filled with sudden layerings and allurings." Her videos began as a direct offshoot of her graphic design, incorporating collage, text, and image-layering into a time-based artform. Long a fan of the computer and all its possibilities, she was introduced to video via Quicktime movies. Her work today is generated from a combination of analog and digital methods.
Higgins has directed numerous short videos and several installations; in the realm of live video performance, she has collaborated with many of New York's preeminent composers and improvisors of new music, including duo performances with Elliott Sharp, Mari Kimura, Ikue Mori, Alan Licht, Nurit Tilles, Aki Onda, Okkyung Lee, and Zeena Parkins. Her work has been performed and exhibited at The New York Video Festival at Lincoln Center; Documenta in Kassel, Germany; Eyebeam Art + Technology Center, NYC; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon; City of Women festival, Slovenia; MAD '03 in Madrid; Art Institute of Chicago; Experimenta Festival in Buenos Aires; The Hamburg Short Film Festival; and at The Impakt Festival in The Netherlands.
She has given workshops on her approach to video performance at A.I.R. gallery, New York City ("Women/Talk/Art/Technology" series), the Watson Festival at Carnegie Mellon University, and the Chelsea Art Museum ("Introductions" series, presented by the Electronic Music Foundation).
Higgins holds a bachelor's degree from The State University of New York at Albany, and has worked professionally as an art director in New York since 1986, initially in editorial design. Her work appeared in such magazines as Esquire, Working Woman, and Fame, culminating in three years as an art director for Vanity Fair. Her layouts have been featured in Communication Arts and Art Direction magazine. She eventually left the magazine world to start her own studio of graphic design and pursue a new interest in video. Her graphic design work then moved to the music business, where she oversaw the art direction of over 100 CD packages for such clients as Island Records, RCA Victor, TVT, London Records, and a wide variety of independent labels. Recent professional work includes her video art as well as motion graphics. She has created videos for Bath & Body Works, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, title sequences for several indie films, as well as motion graphics and animations for the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.
Higgins has organized seven events for MOMA PS1's Clocktower Gallery in Tribeca, NYC. These included "Release", an evening of solo performances by a sampling of New York's foremost noise musicians; and "Timebomb", a four-night series of music, poetry, film/video, and cyberculture. This series was documented in the CD release Timebomb: Live At The Clocktower Gallery issued by PS1.
