Monika Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss

16/11/2024

Memories. Peter Weibel, Masaki Fujihata, Monika Fleischmann, Siegfried Zielinski after the opening of the exhibition "Art in Motion. 100 Masterpieces at the ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe" in 2018.

10/10/2024

Our contribution to SIGGRAPH 2024
https://ereyes.github.io/s2024/the_next_50_years/

24/09/2024

Meta deleted my post the second time, writing that it was "sensitive information" I was taking from others! The same thing happened to Marc Garret recently, if I remember correctly. Do you know what is wrong?

I quoted an article about our work "Home of the Brain" (1990), which had been reported by Scenospace* as the first virtual reality art installation in which we had incorporated real-time radiosity with the effect of a mystical landscape of light and shadow like a De Chirico painting.

I was happy to read it because not many people know that it was the first VR art installation presented with a data glove and a head-mounted display that we received from Jaron Lanier's company - (but still paid for by our research institute ART+COM, which we had founded with Edouard Bannwart in 1987) - in exchange for a real-time 3D model simulation of the Potsdamer subway station in Berlin.

"Scenospace
Entangled Histories
Home of the Brain (1992) a virtual reality installation by Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss
The first virtual reality art installation"

Very strange why I am not allowed to post it.

*Scenospace: A weekly digest of developments in live performance, technology, and the emerging metaverse.
https://scenospace.substack.com/p/the-first-virtual-reality-art-installation

Meta/Facebook deleted this post a second time:
"Home of the Brain" (1990) by Monika Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss, ART+COM, Berlin, Germany, was presented as the first virtual reality installation by Scenospace in January 2020.

It was deleted the second time and Meta wrote that it was sensitive information I was taking from others.

A weekly digest charting developments across live performance, technology, and the emerging Metaverse

21/09/2024

Here is the updated paper of our presentation at the Generative Arts Summit, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, 3/07/2024:
ALL WE NEED IS THINKING SPACE - GENERATIVE INTERACTIVITY IN DIGITAL ART by Monika Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss
https://www.academia.edu/123565671/ALL_WE_NEED_IS_THINKING_SPACE
Abstract
This presentation at the Generative Art Summit discusses the impact of Generative Art at the nexus of art, technology, and interactivity, particularly within the Art & Science framework. While the focus of Generative Art has been on predetermined, algorithms, Fleischmann and Strauss' approach departed from generative methods by emphasizing interactivity and audience participation as integral elements of the creative process. Influenced by post-reunification Germany and the rise of the Internet, their work highlighted performative interfaces where audience engagement actively shaped the artwork. Key projects such as Between 0/1, Genetic Modification, Home of the Brain, and Energy Passages illustrate how their research and practice created dynamic Thinking Spaces that invited reflection, public debate, and personal discovery. This generative interactivity transforms passive observation into co-creation, allowing viewers to interact with the artwork and reflect their role within it, offering a meaning-finding, evolving experience beyond the moment of engagement.
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20/09/2024

I just saw this short article about our VR installation 'Home of the Brain' (1990). Thanks .
Just please correct the date (1990). The other date (1992) was the Golden Nica Award for Interactive Art at Ars Electronica for "Home of the Brain".
https://scenospace.substack.com/p/the-first-virtual-reality-art-installation

A weekly digest charting developments across live performance, technology, and the emerging Metaverse

08/08/2024

Just published: Our 20-minute talk on “All You Need is Thinking Space – from Art+Com to Art+Science” from July 3rd, 2024 at The Generative Art Summit, at Akademie der Kuenste in Berlin.

This presentation pays tribute to Herbert W. Franke, a pioneer of Generative Art and founder of Ars Electronica, whose influence has permeated the field of digital art. We reflect on our journey, which began in the mid-1980s with the founding of ART+COM in Berlin and has evolved into a fusion of art, science and technology. Our work explores the dynamic relationship between humans and machines through generative frameworks and interactive media, fostering new "Thinking Spaces" (Denkraum) in which artificial and natural intelligence coexist. From early explorations like Between 0/1 (1988) to works such as Genetic Modification (1992), Home of the Brain (1990), and Liquid Views (1992), we demonstrate how generative systems evoke individual autonomy. These Performative Interfaces, driven by algorithms and visitor participation, turn static observation into a dialog between viewer and machine, redefining self-awareness and creating immersive experiences. A platform and an installation such as Netzspannung.org (2001) and Energy Passages (2004) further exemplify how generative art can transform media archives and engage public discourse. In the spirit of Franke, we believe that generative interactivity transforms art into a process of discovery. By breaking traditional boundaries, we have created "Thinking Spaces" that challenge the digital landscape and invite audiences into an evolving, performative interaction between thought, action, and digital transformation.
Draft paper: https://www.academia.edu/123565671/ALL_WE_NEED_IS_THINKING_SPACE
Organised by Susanne Paech under the Herbert W. Franke Foundation, the two day conference was held in the memory of Herbert W. Franke - Art Meets Science
https://art-meets-science.io/konferenz-praesentation-von-fleischmann-strauss/

Generative Art Summit Berlin - Präsentation Monika Fleischmann und Wolfgang Strauss

28/07/2024

Just published:
"Beyond Narcissus: Seeing the self in the other"
Authors: Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss
Source: Virtual Creativity, Volume 13, Issue "Immersive Horizons: Blurring the Creative Frontiers Between Virtual and Material Worlds", Oct 2023, p. 131 - 144
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/vcr_00080_1
Language: English
Received: 31 Jan 2024 Accepted: 04 Mar 2024 Published online: 18 Jul 2024

This article proposes a reframing of the contemporary media Narcissus through the lens of the interactive installation Liquid Views: Narcissus Virtual Mirror (henceforth Liquid Views), created by Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss in 1992. The installation explores the transformative encounter....

19/07/2024

19/07/2024

We are delighted that one of our contributions to the Media Art Histories MAH RE:SOURCE 2023 conference in Venice, "Beyond Narcissus: Seeing the Self in the Other", has been published in Intellect's special issue "Immersive Horizons: Blurring the Creative Frontiers Between Virtual and Material Worlds" in the journal Virtual Creativity. Special thanks to Clio Flego and Francesca Franco.
The article explores digital narcissism in contemporary media through an interactive installation, "Liquid Views: Narcissus Virtual Mirror" by Monika Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss from 1992.
In the early 1990s, "Liquid Views" explored the transformative encounter between the Self and the Other, demonstrating a new way of seeing as observing and being observed, allowing us to see ourselves while becoming publicly visible to others.
On view at the Tate Modern from November in "Electric Dreams", curated by Val Ravaglia and Odessa Warren with Kira Weinstein.

This article proposes a reframing of the contemporary media Narcissus through the lens of the interactive installation Liquid Views: Narcissus Virtual Mirror (henceforth Liquid Views), created by Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss in 1992. The installation explores the transformative encounter....

17/07/2024

Pictures from our talk at the Generative Art Summit 2024 in Berlin. "Liquid Views - Narcissus Mirror will soon be on show at the Tate Modern in November 2024.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/generative-art-summit-2024-monika-fleischmann-tw3if/
"Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before The Internet" at Tate Modern opens on 28 November 2024 🤖 💽
Discover how artists from the 1950s to the early 1990s used machines and algorithms to create mesmerising and mind-bending art, in one of Tate Modern's most ambitious exhibitions to date. See incredible works of vintage tech art in action, from the birth of Op Art to the dawn of the internet age. Electric Dreams celebrates the early innovators of optical, kinetic, programmed and digital art who ushered in a new era of immersive sensory installations and automatically generated artworks.
https://bit.ly/3Loig3m
In partnership with Gucci
💻 Samia Halaby Fold 2 1988, kinetic painting coded on an Amiga computer. Tate © Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut / Hamburg.
👾 Suzanne Treister Fictional Videogame Stills/Are You Dreaming? 1991-2 © Suzanne Treister
🪩 Carlos Cruz-Diez Environnement Chromointerférent, Paris 1974/2017 © Carlos Cruz-Diez / Bridgeman Images, Paris 2024
💧 Monika Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss Liquid Views - Narcissus' Digital Reflection 1992

06/07/2024

“As a theorist, curator, and artist, Herbert W. Franke was a key figure in the early artistic use of computer technology. Since the 1950s, he has pioneered exploring and shaping the interfaces between science, art, and science fiction. As a co-founder of Ars Electronica in particular, he continues to inspire creative minds and thinkers around the world. In his three main fields of activity – computer art, science fiction, and cave research – Franke opened visionary worlds and new ways of thinking about the intertwining of technology and human existence. His knowledge of physics, mathematics, philosophy, and chemistry made him a polymath who broke the boundaries between disciplines and explored new horizons. The NFTs that Franke still used for his Math Art bear witness to his engagement with generative art to the end.
Perhaps it is the legacy of Herbert W. Franke to show the exciting fusion of science and art that opens a world of possibilities.
We are thrilled to be a part of the Generative Art Summit, which upholds his legacy and continues his vision of generative art as a group endeavor.” Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss

Generative Art Summit in the Academy of Arts Berlin, July 2024 - Guests of Honor: Monika Fleischmann an Wolfgang Strauss

06/07/2024

Die deutsche "Vogue" hat die Holocaust-Überlebende Margot Friedländer auf den Titel genommen - und gemischte Reaktionen geerntet. Doch wer ein Fashion-Cover für zu trivial für das Thema hält, macht einen Denkfehler über Mode

01/07/2024

Thank you Susanne Paech and the Art Meets Science Herbert W. Franke Foundation for this incredible program over the past few days. Being invited to present our work at the Generative Art Summit in Berlin was an honor. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet many friends and colleagues. And to see each other's work again. You can find some of our work on the web.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=New+media+art+-+The+thinking+space+for+digitality+by+Monika+Fleischmann+%26+Wolfgang+Strauss+(2023)+The+Performative+Interface+draws+attention+to+the+unknown.+It+is+not+(only)+the+virtual+environment+that+is+important%2c+but+the+thoughts+of+the+viewer.+The+authors+have+developed+this+hypothesis+over+decades+with+each+new+work.&id=4DF86D2498D6C6DD06D6CDEAEA7DE8E432FA4A26&form=IQFRBA&first=1&disoverlay=1

30/06/2024

We thank the organizers Susanne Paech and the ArtMeetsScience Herbert W. Franke Foundation for this incredible program where we are invited to present our work and look forward to meeting many friends and colleagues during the Generative Art Summit in Berlin, July 3-4, 2024, at the Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg.
July 3rd – Morning Session
Generative Art: The Beginnings
8:30 am – 9:30 am
Entrance
9:30 am – 9:45 am
Susanne Paech
art meets science – Foundation Herbert W. Franke
Welcome Address
9:45 am – 10:05 am
Dr. Stefan Gronert
art historian and Deputy Scientific Director at Sprengel Museum Hanover
Presentation “When Technology Created the Picture. On the Prehistory of Digitalization in German Photography of the 50’s and 60’s”
10:05 am – 10:25 am
Margit Rosen
pioneering art historian and Head of Collections and Archive at ZKM | Center for Media and Art Karlsruhe
presentation “In the Beginning, There Was the Analogue“
10:25 am – 10:45 am
Prof. Dr. Frieder Nake
computer scientist, Professor Emeritus at University Bremen, Germany, and Computer Art Pioneer
presentation “Getting away from Canvas – on Algorithmic Art”
10:45 am – 11:15 am
Coffee Break
11:15 am – 11:35 am
Prof. Dr. A. Michael Noll
engineer and Professor Emeritus of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication (University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA) and Computer Art Pioneer
video presentation “The Beginnings of Digital Art at Bell Labs“
11:35 am – 11:50 am
Prof. Dr. Grant Taylor
pioneering art historian and Professor at the Lebanon Valley College (Annville, Pennsylvania, USA), Director of Creative Arts
presentation “The Futurologists: Predicting an Expanding Medium”
11:50 am – 12:30 am
talk “The Futurologists: Predicting an Expanding Medium”
Prof. Dr. Grant Taylor (Moderator) – art historian and Professor at the Lebanon Valley College (Annville, Pennsylvania, USA), Director of Creative Arts
Caroline Csuri – artist and daughter of computer art pioneer Charles Csuri
Benjamin Heidersberger – artist and son of generative photo pioneer Heinrich Heidersberger
Hans Dehlinger – former Professor at the Kassel University and pioneer of computer art
Reiner Schneeberger – computer scientist and computer art pioneer
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Lunch Break
July 3rd – Afternoon Session
From Algorithms to Virtual Reality
2:00 pm – 2:20 pm
Tom Mikulic
engineer and pioneer of computer art
presentation “Animation in the Plotter Drawings”
2:20 pm – 2:55 pm
talk and presentations “Woman in a Man’s World”
Catherine Mason (Moderator) – pioneering art historian and writer
Joan Truckenbrod – pioneer of computer art, former Professor at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, USA
Mechthild Schmidt Feist – pioneer of media art, Professor at New York University, USA
2:55 pm – 3:15 pm
Dr. Bill Kolomyjec
engineer, former Associate Professor of design at Northern Illinois University, USA, and
pioneer of computer art
presentation “Plotter Art to Blockchain: My Unexpected Return to Computer Art”
3:15 pm – 3:35 pm
Prof. William Latham
computer scientist, Professor of Computing at Goldsmiths, University of London, GB, and pioneer
of computer art
presentation “How Life and Genetic Algorithms came into Digital Art”
3:35 pm – 4:00 pm
Coffee Break
4:00 pm – 4:20 pm
Monika Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss
artists and former scientists of Fraunhofer Gesellschaft – pioneers of virtual and mixed reality
presentation “All You Need is Thinking Space – from Art+Com to Art+Science”
4:20 pm – 4:40 pm
Prof. Christa Sommerer
MA biology, Professor of media arts at University of Linz, Austria, and pioneer of media art
presentation “Interactivity in Art”
4:40 pm – 5:00 pm
Geoff Davis
Pioneer of micro computer art
presentation “Small but Beautiful: The PC as a Tool for Artists”
5:00 pm – 5:20 pm
talk Susanne Paech with Anne and Michael Spalter, “Spalter Digital Art Collection”
about “Digital Art: The Collector’s View”
5:20 pm – 5:35 pm
Felix Mittelberger & Andreas Kohlbecker
ZKM | Center for Media and Art Karlsruhe
presentation of the Herbert W. Franke Archive and other archives for historic research
5:35 pm – 6:00 pm
talk „Museums – Under Performers in the Preservation of Generative Art?“
Julia Staudach (Moderator) – co-founder CryptoWiener and curator Museum Francisco Carolinum, Upper Austria
Sabine Himmelsbach – art historian and director of HEK (House of Electronic Arts) Basel
Margit Rosen – art historian and Head of Collections and Archive at ZKM | Center for Media and Art Karlsruhe
8:00 – 10:00 pm
Film Night
https://art-meets-science.io/en/generative-art-summit-berlin-monika-fleischmann-wolfgang-strauss/

29/06/2024

29/06/2024

The Divine Spark with Data Glove 1992.
Michelangelo's Adam was reinterpreted as Eve's creation of virtual reality. Monika Fleischmann, ART+COM, 1992
In the spring of 1992, Christine Schöpf from Ars Electronica called to tell us that we had won the Golden Nica of the Prix Ars Electronica for "Home of the Brain". A photographer contacted me a few days later and took this photo reinterpreting Michelangelo's creation of Adam as Eve's creation of virtual reality. What a cool idea! :))
Today, we will rebuild the Home of the Brain and equip it with an AI language model. This is the plan that was originally laid out, and we are going to make it a reality.
Who can provide us with scientific and technical support? We need to find a suitable production location. Which funding applications are suitable? Who can help?
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/divine-spark-monika-fleischmann-fwawf/
https://www.radiancevr.co/artists/monika-fleischmann-and-wolfgang-strauss/fleischmann-strauss-home-of-the-brain