MediaArtHistories

Faculty (extract)

Sean Cubitt

TESTIMONIAL: "Great teachers, strategic location in the heart of Europe's new media scene, but most of all, a wonderful group of students who spur each other on to the forefront of debate and research."

Professor and Director of the Program in Media and Communications, University of Melbourne, Australia;
Honorary Professor, Television Imaging, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, Scotland (from Nov 2002).

Lev Manovich

TESTIMONIAL: "Teaching at Image Science program at Danube University Krems was a real treat for me. I had extremely stimulating discussions with the students, and I found that format set up by the program - an intensive seminar where the students focus on just one topic in depth - is very productive."

Lev Manovich is recognized as one of the leading theorists and critics of digital culture and art worldwide. He is the author of Soft Cinema: Navigating the Database (The MIT Press, 2005), and The Language of New Media (The MIT Press, 2001) which is hailed as "the most suggestive and broad ranging media history since Marshall McLuhan." Manovich is a Professor of Visual Arts, University of California, San Diego and a Director of The Lab for Cultural Analysis at California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology.

Christiane Paul

TESTIMONIAL: "MediaArtHistories is a truly unique and outstanding masters program that successfully links an excellent curriculum with a faculty of international experts to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the histories, forms, as well as practical and conceptual implications of today's media art. Working with the program's highly motivated students in the stunning environment of a 14th century monastery has been a memorable and inspiring experience."

Dr. Christiane Paul is the Adjunct Curator of New Media Arts at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the director of Intelligent Agent, a service organization and information resource dedicated to digital art. She has written extensively on new media arts. She teaches as an adjunct in the MFA computer arts department at the School of Visual Arts in New York and the Digital Media Department of the Rhode Island School of Design and has lectured internationally on art and technology. Christiane Paul has participated in numerous panels on new media and presented at conferences worldwide.

Erkki Huhtamo

TESTIMONIAL: "Krems and Stift Gottweig are ideal places for media-archaeological revelations: new media culture emerges from encounters with deep history."

Erkki Huhtamo is a media archaeologist, writer, and exhibition curator. He was born in Helsinki, Finland (1958) and works as Professor of Media History and Theory at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Department of Design | Media Arts. He has published extensively on media archaeology and media arts, lectured worldwide, created television programs and curated media art exhibitions. His research deals with topics like peep media, Marcel Duchamps optical experiments, the use of 3-D imaging by media artists, the pre-history of the screen, and the archaeology of mobile media. He is currently working on two books, one about the 19th century moving panorama, and another on the archaeology of interactivity.

Christa Sommerer

TESTIMONIAL: "The study of media art histories is essential if we want to preserve and study the cultural heritage that media artists and scholars have produced over the past decades. The program of Image Science in Krems will help us to reach this goal through professional research and dedicated scholars."

Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau are internationally renowned media artist working in the field of interactive computer installation. They are currently Professors for Interface Culture at the University of Art and Design in Linz Austria. The previously taught at the IAMAS International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences in Gifu, Japan and worked as researchers at the ATR Advanced Telecommunications Research Lab in Kyoto. Their interactive installations have been shown in numerous exhibitions world-wide and are permanently installed in media museums and media collections around the world, including the Van Gogh Museum, the NTT-ICC Center Tokyo, the ZKM Karlsruhe. Germany. They have won mayor international media awards, for example the "World Technology Award" for Art (London, 2001), the "Golden Nica" Ars Electronica Award for Interactive Art 1994 (Linz, Austria), the "Ovation Award" of the Interactive Media Festival 1995 (Los Angeles, USA) and the "Multi Media Award '95" of the Multimedia Association Japan.

Jens Hauser

TESTIMONIAL: "A program for professionals and practitioners wishing to specialize both in media art history and the practical challenges of just emerging fields was certainly overdue. It would be difficult to find a better place for efficient group learning than the Monastery Göttweig, where pure ‘newness’ is confronted with the larger history of art in its ever changing role."

Jens Hauser is an art curator and writer who teaches media theory and intercultural approaches at Ruhr University Bochum, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Taipei University. He has created exhibitions on biotechnological art, collaborated on and produced television, sound and film works, and written on film culture, video games and contemporary music.

Oliver Grau

TESTIMONIAL: "The MediaArtHistory, MA, the first of its kind shall help to bridge the gap Media Art still has to cross to get better integrated into our societies and their cultural institutions."

Oliver Grau is professor for Image Science, head of the Department for Image Science at Danube University Krems. Grau was head of the first international conference on MediaArtHistory: Refresh!, Banff 2005 <www.mediaarthistory.org>. From 1998 he was a lecturer at the Humboldt-University Berlin and led the Research Projects "Art History and Media Theories of Virtual Reality" and from 2001: "Immersive Art", which were funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Science Foundation). Since 1999 he developed the first international Database of Digital Art <www.virtualart.at>. Numerous international publications and invited international lecture-series: Most important publications: Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion, Cambridge/Mass. 2003; Mediale Emotionen, Frankfurt 2005 and MediaArtHistories Cambridge/Mass. 2007 and For an Expanded Concept of Documentation: The Database of Virtual Art, in: ICHIM, Ecole du Louvre, Paris 2003.
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Paul Sermon

TESTIMONIAL: "On my last visit I presented my new work concerning presence and absence in Second Life, which really resonated with students at Krems, this was an occasion I was able to unpack this emerging critical discourse and explore very new creative directions in my work and that of the students. I look forward to my return visit."

1989-92 Lecturer in Telematics, School of Fine Art, Gwent College of Higher Education, Wales; 1991-92 Lecturer in Media Art, Department of Fine Art, University of Reading, Berkshire; 1993–1999 Lecturer for Computer Art at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig; since 2000 professor at the School of Art and Design at the University of Salford; lives and works in Manchester (GB).

Irina Aristarkhova

TESTIMONIAL: "The Danube University Krems has excellent facilities to make one's study as productive as possible. I particularly enjoyed working closely with an international group of students in a beautiful setting of Wachau Valley. The world-class team at the department of Image Science does an excellent job in organizing a learning and teaching experience."

Professor at Penn State University, USA; The native Russian was among others Research Fellow at the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick (UK), Visiting Lecturer at the Russian Academy of Sciences and Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore. Her field of research focuses on cyber feminism, comparative feminist theory and aesthetics of new media.

Frieder Nake

TESTIMONIAL: "The dialectics of algorithmics and aesthetics was on my mind when I came to teach about digital art. We started out on this, but soon students' attention and concentration had caught me so much that we landed elsewhere when the day was gone. Nobody complained about extra time. And we stayed on in the restaurant till midnight. Learning as a form of living."

Studied mathematics in Stuttgart; Doctoral degree 1967 there. 1968/69 postdoctoral fellow University of Toronto, computer science; 1970-72 assistant professor UBC Vancouver (graphics, computational linguistics); since 1972 full professor University of Bremen, computer science. Visiting professor University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Oslo, University of Vienna, University of Aarhus, ISNM Lübeck, University of Basel. First exhibition of computer art Nov. 1965. Current main intersts: Digital media in design and theory, computer art, semiotic foundation of computer science, interactive installations. Books: Graphic languages (with A. Rosenberg) 1972, Ästhetik als Informationsverarbeitung 1974, Graphik in Dokumenten 1986, Sichtweisen der Informatik (with W. Coy et al.) 1992, Algorithmus und Kunst (with D. Stoller) 1993, Die erträgliche Leichtigkeit der Zeichen 1993, Computers and signs. Prolegomena to a semiotic foundation of computing science (with Peter B. Andersen) in prep.

Gerfried Stocker

Since 1995 Gerfried Stocker is director and artistic head of the Ars Electronica Centre and together with Christine Schoepf he is responsible for the artistic management of the Ars Electronica Festivals. He is media artist, musician and engineer for telecommunication engineering and electronics.
In 1990 he founded x-space, a team for the realization of interdisciplinar projects. In this connection numerous installations and performances in the field of Interaction, Robotics and Telecommunication have been realized. Further more he was in charge of the conception of several radio network projects and the organization of the worldwide radio and network project Horizontal Radio.

Michael Century

TESTIMONIAL: "The Media Art Histories course at Danube University is a much needed specialist credential in a field of study that is still neglected in the traditional humanities disciplines. The intensive teaching format is innovative and productive. The high caliber of students proves that the course will be of benefit to working professionals across a wide range of specializations in the visual and media arts."

Professor in the Arts Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which he joined in August, 2002. Long associated with The Banff Centre for the Arts, Century founded the Centre's Media Arts Division in 1988. From 1993-2002 he was a program manager, consultant, and policy advisor for art and technology, serving public institutions, foundations, and research laboratories in Canada. He was educated in humanities, piano performance, and musicology at the Universities of Toronto California, Berkeley, and science/technology policy at Sussex University (U.K.)

Alain Depocas

TESTIMONIAL: "My two days in Krems with the MediaArtHistories masters program's students was a great experience. The students already have a deep understanding of the many challenges we are facing regarding the conservation and documentation of media art. They were very generous and we had very productive discussions and exchanges. I also really appreciate to collaborate with the program team, and especially with it's director Oliver Grau."

Head of the Centre for Research and Documentation (CR+D) of the Daniel Langlois Foundation since September 1999, Alain Depocas was named its Director in March 2003. As such, he is responsible for a documentary collection covering the history, works and practices associated with the media, electronic and digital arts. He has also established a database to manage the collection and other information pertaining to the CR+D's areas of interest.

Steve Dietz

Steve Dietz is a new media curator and director of ISEA 2006 Symposium ZeroOne San Jose International Festival of Art and Technology; 1996–2003 he was curator of new media at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, where he founded the New Media Initiatives department, the online art Gallery 9, and the digital art study collection; Dietz was founding Chief of Publications and New Media Initiatives at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and editor of the scholarly journal, American Art. Dietz has organized and curated many new media exhibitions, including some of the first online exhibitions «Beyond Interface: net art and Art on the Net» (1998)

Christian Hübler

TESTIMONIAL: "MediaArtHistory- a special remote location to
reflect, address and enact the medialities of media from artistic viewpoints students from various cultural backgrounds who confront their own work and those of the lecturers with intensities a place of presence worthwhile to develop it further."


The media art group Knowbotic Research (krcf) was established in 1991 by Yvonne Wilhelm, Alexander Tuchacek and Christian Huebler and has been experimenting since then with formations of information, interface and networked agency. Their more recent projects use media artistic practice as an attempt to find viable forms of intervention int he new publich domain. Since 1998 krcf has held a professorship in the New Media Department at the University of Art and Design in Zuerich, Switzerland.

krcf has won following international awards:
2001 Claasen Prize for Media Art and Photography, Cologne; 2000 international ZKM Media-art award; 1998 Prix Arts Electronica, Golden Nica for net.art; 1997 August Seeling-Award of Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum; 1994 Prix Arts Electronica, Golden Nica for interactive art

Martina Leeker

TESTIMONIAL: "I enjoyed the lecture very much and was very impressed by the standard of knowledge and the engagement of the participants. It made sense to me to work with scholars who díd already study or had a professional education or work experience and to develop together with them my inputs regardig the particular interests and questions. This was an enrichment for me, too."

Professor for Theater and Media at the University of Bayreuth; Martina Leeker studied dramatics and philosophy in Berlin and Paris. She completed a training for theater and mime in Paris at Etienne Decroux and Jacques Lecoq as well as further education in dance and play in Berlin. Focus of her scientific and artistic work is the relation between thater, performance and digital media. Martina Leeker is founder member of transARTES, Akademie für Darstellende Kunst, Medien und Kultur.

Christine Schoepf

TESTIMONIAL: “The knowledge of media history is indispensable especially for those persons who express and create the current media culture. The course of study MediaArtHistories was thus long ago overdue. It is highly gratifying that a group of so intelligent, interested and international scholars met. “

German language and literature and Romance studies at the University of Vienna, 1981 – 2008 director for culture/science at ORF Upper Austria with focus on Ars Electronica, 1987 – 2003 concept and performance Prix Ars Electronica, since 1996 together with Gerfried Stocker co-director of Ars Electronica Festival.

Sylvia Grace Borda

TESTIMONIAL: "In my teaching practice, I try to present a balance of history, theory and direct application so that students will be able to position themselves in relation to contemporary and historical aesthetics. Teaching should expand a student's knowledge of past and current practices while grounding the student's experiences in learning new applications and by encouraging new ways of assessing media and criticality. Information (conceptual content, theoretical frameworks and related exercises) and technique (process) are balanced in a yin-yang model - neither one should be greater than the other, both are equal in accomplishing successful work. Similarly, the dialogue between student and teacher should arise through reciprocity, rather than a single directional approach.

It has been immensely rewarding to participate as a mentor at Krems University in an environment that clearly values the professional development of its students and the fostering of ideas and dialogue. Exponential growth, rapid changes, and market innovations characterize the modern world, and there is a need to approach these challenges with critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. Such an approach defines the Krems University 'experience' - and positions it among the forefront of cutting edge pedagogy and learning in the field of new media, as well as critical and cultural studies."

Margit Rosen

Margit Rosen (1974, Munich, Germany) studied art history, philosophy, media art and political sciences in Munich, Karlsruhe and Paris. She worked as scientific assistant at ZKM, Center for Art and Media, as curator at the lothringer13/halle, Munich and taught at the Department for Digital Media at the HfG, State Academy for Art and Design Karlsruhe. Currently she is working on a Ph.D research project on early computers based art. She published on the history of photography, contemporary arts and computer based arts.

Monika Fleischmann

Monika Fleischmann, born 1950, German research artist, studied visual arts, theater and computer graphics. Since 1992 she has been artistic director of the Institute for Media Communication; since 1997 she has been head of the MARS exploratory media lab at the Fraunhofer Institute for Media Communication in Sankt Augustin. In 1988 she was co-founder of Art + Com, Berlin, a research institute for computer-assisted media art, architecture, design. Her research projects are based on interface design and new forms of communication. The design of interfaces as a toy, a tool, a space, and a situation is the basis of communicative action and is the motivation for her exploration of mixed realities - the linking of physical and virtual space. Her main research topic is to extend the idea of interaction and communication by interfaces combined with interactive virtual environments on the base of perceptive processes.

Darko Fritz

Fritz is artist and independent curator and researcher. He curated exhibition and edited printed and web publication I am Still Alive - computer art from the 1960ʼs and recent low-tech and internet art, 2000; CLUB.NL - contemporary art and art networks from the Netherlands, 2000; Lights from Zagreb - interactive light installations, 2001; <dis.location>2003; Variable Amnesia, 2006 and currently preparing exhibition and publication ʻBit International - New Tendencies, Zagreb 1961 - 1973 at Neue Galerie 2007 and ZKM , Karlsruhe, 2008.
He presented research on early digital art at conferences: ISEA 2000, Paris; End Repeat ,Tallin, 2001; ISEA 2004, Helsinki; Computer in Theorie und Kunst, Stuttgart, 2004; REFRESH!, Banff, 2005; okno public01, Brussels, 2006. The Amnesia International - Early computer art and Tendencies movementʼ is published at the Bitomatik by kuda.org in Novi Sad, 2004 and ʻVladimir Bonacicʼ at CIP, Zagreb, 2006. As editor for media art at the Culturenet he publishedʻA brief overview of media art in Croatia (since 1960s)ʼ 2002. Director of documentary film Hong Kong Contemporary and Media Art, 2001.

Dietmar Offenhuber

FELLOWSHIPS & AWARDS (SELECTION)
2004 Japan Foundation Fellowship, IAMAS Institute, ifu, Japan
2003 EMARE, Artist in Residence, Werkleitz Ges., Halle, Germany
2003 Top 10 Finalist Digital Architecture, FEIDAD Award, Taiwan
2003 Art Directors Club, Silver Award, New Media category
2003 ZKM international media art award, Nomination
2003 Transmediale Award, Honorary Mention Category Image
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
since 2008 Art University Linz, Professor in Interface Culture / Visualization
since 2008 Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Media Art Research, Key Researcher for Visualization
2004-06 Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences, Professor for Computer Animation and Interactive Media
2002-04 Ars Electronica Futurelab, Art & Research, 1995-2002, Key Researcher

Nat Muller

Is an independent curator and critic based in Rotterdam. She has held positions as staff curator at V2_, Institute for Unstable Media (Rotterdam) and De Balie, Centre for Culture and Politics (Amsterdam). Her main interests include: the intersections of aesthetics, media and politics; media art and contemporary art in the Middle East. She has published articles in off- and online media; is a regular contributor for Springerin, Bidoun, and MetropolisM and has given presentations on the subject of media art (inter)nationally. She has curated video screenings for projects and festivals in a.o. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Berlin, New York, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Grimstad, Lugano, Dubai, Cairo and Beirut. She recently co-edited the Mag.net Reader2: Between Paper and Pixel with Alessandro Ludovico (2007), and Mag.net Reader3: Processual Publishing. Actual Gestures, based on a series of debates organized at Documenta XII. She has taught at the Willem de Kooning Academy (NL), ALBA (Beirut), the Lebanese American University (Beirut), and A.U.D. in Dubai (UAE). She serves as an advisor on Euro-Med collaborations for the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) and the European Commission.

Edward Shanken

Edward A. Shanken writes and teaches about the entwinement of art, science, and technology with a focus on interdisciplinary practices involving new media. He is Universitair Docent in New Media, University of Amsterdam, and a member of the Media Art History faculty at the Donau University in Krems, Austria. He was formerly Executive Director of the Information Science + Information Studies program at Duke University and Professor of Art History and Media Theory at Savannah College of Art and Design. Recent and forthcoming publications include essays on art and technology in the 1960s, information aesthetics, interactivity and agency, and the cultural implications of cybernetics, robotics, and biotechnology. He edited Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology and Consciousness (University of California Press, 2003). His second book, Art and Electronic Media was published by Phaidon Press in 2009.