Biographies




Roland Alton-Scheidel is a network theorist and practician, does supporting research for telecommunication projects at the research center for socio-economics of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and is a co-developer of the services offered by PUBLIC VOICE. He lectures on the sociological aspects of communication networks at theVienna Technical University.

Sam Auinger, born in Linz (A) in 1956, he strongly engages in issues of composition, computer-generated music, sound design and psycho-acoustics and has worked for the cinema, theater, exhibitions and festivals in Europe and the United States since the early '80's. Since 1989 he has repeatedly collaborated with Bruce Odland' doing sound installations such as "Garten der Zeiträume" for Ars Electroonica (1990), "Traffic Mantra" on the Forum Traianum (Rome, 1991) etc. They also co-operated in the sound design for Peter Sellars' staging of "The Persians" (1993).

John Perry Barlow, born in Wyoming in 1947, graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, co-writer of songs for the Grateful Dead since 1971. In 1990 he and Mitchell Kapor founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization which promotes freedom of expression in digital media. He is a writer and lecturer on subjects relating to the virtualization of society and is contributing editor of numerous publications including Microtimes and Mondo 2000. He is a contributing writer for WIRED and lives in Wyoming, New York and Cyberspace.

Ed Bezem, born in Rotterdam (NL), in 1955, he studied chemistry and started working in utility-building. During this he developed more technical crafts concerning electrical engineering along with stage lighting and stage-set building, He worked on several festivals and joined Mickery Theater in 1989. WhiIe working on light video, film and sound, his love for digital technologies directed him towards software development.

Michael Bielicky, born in 1954 in Prague, he studied medicine at Düsseldorf University and received his MA in 1987 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düssledorf from Nam June Paik. In 1991 he founded the Video Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he teaches as Associate Professor. His work has been shown at MOMA, NYC, documenta 8 in Kassel and numerous other shows around the world.

Ecke Bonk, born at Fontainebleau in 1953, correspondence student of Erwin Schrödinger, Niels Bohr and Marcel Duchamp. Works as a typographic adviser for NASA in Houston, TX from time to time, Publications include "Netzüberführungszone" (Frankfurt/Main 1976), "Marcel Duchamp – Die Große Schachtel" (Munich 1989). "Maschinenzeichen" (Vienna 1991), Forthcoming, "Reuters – A Day in the Net" (Munich 1995).

Amy S. Bruckman is a doctoral candidate at the Media Lab at MIT, where she founded MediaMOO, a text-based virtual reality environment or "MUD", designed to be a professional community for media researchers. MediaMOO currently has 1000 members from 29 countries. Amy received her Master's Degree from the Media Lab's Interactive Cinema Group in 1991 and her Bachelor's Degree in physics from Harvard University in 1987. For her dissertation, she is creating a MUD for kids called MOOSE Crossing. MOOSE Crossing is designed to provide an authentic context for kids to learn reading, writing and programming. Amy lectures internationally on the topic of virtual communities.

Ingrid Burgbacher-Krupka took a degree in chemistry and did doctoral studies in sociology and philosophy of art, at the University of Cologne. She was a guest student with Joseph Beuys in 1970/71, a student of sociology at Vassar College, NY, from 1972 to '74, research assistant at Stanford University, CA, from 1974 to '76 and has been a journalist and founding president of Kunst+Projekte at Sindelfingen Kunstverein since 1989. Her publications include monographs of contemporary artists.

Critical Art Ensemble. CAE is a collective of six new-genre artists of various specializations, including computer art, film/video, photography, text art, book art and performance. Formed in 1987 CAE's focus has been on the exploration of the intersections between art, critical theory, technology and political activism. CAE has produced projects for a broad variety of cultural situations including bars and clubs, community centers, public spaces, universities, galleries and museums, radio and television and the Internet. CAE has also produced a substantial amount of cultural criticism that has appeared in numerous anthologies, catalogues and journals.

Tatjana Didenko, Executive producer of Checkpoint 95 at Moscow Chanel 2, is a music critic who, for the past four years, has produced the monthly program "Silence No, 9" for the second Russian Channel, as well as regular music folklore programs. She is a member of the New Screen Technology Association and was on the board of media experts for the Soros Center of Contemporary Art annual exhibition: New Media Topia. She has also produced documentary works such as "Bezummy Fritz", which reveals the history of the changing attitude of the Russian defeat of the German army – through the narrative films created in Soviet studios from the 50's, 60's and 70's: "Metropolis" a history and subjective view of the Moscow subway, and "Demonstration Astro", a tour of the Russian rave scene of the 1990s.

Gerd Döben-Henisch, communication scientist and philosopher. In 1992, he joined the Institut für Neue Medien in Frankfurt to continue his ongoing scientific research on linguistic meaning and autodidactic systems in the stimulating surroundings of the IfNM. Inspired by Multi User Dungeons (MUDs) and Christian Hübler's Knowbots, he developed his first vision of the knowbotic interface as a multiple-agent operating system for adaptive agents capable of migration in the spring of 1994.

Wolfgang Dorninger, born in Linz (A) in 1960, studied at the Academy for Applied Arts in Vienna, master class for visual media design, editor of the culture magazine "Skug". "7inch12" singles record label (1991/92), member of the bands "Monochrome Bleu", "Josef K. Noyce", "Wipe Out". He participated in several video festivals, made several films and plays as well as dance music and runs the Sonic Sound Studio in Linz. He lives and works in Vienna and Linz.

Thomas Dreher, born in 1957, studied art history, philosophy and classical archaeology at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich as from 1978. Since 1985 he has written articles and reviews for art magazines, including "das kunstwerk", "Artefactum", "Artscribe" and "Wolkenkratzer". From 1986 to 1987 he held a scholarship from Lower Saxony at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich. PhD in 1988 (doctoral thesis on "Conceptual Art in America and England between 1963 and 1976", Peter Lang, Frankfurt a.M. 1992). In 1991 he collaborated in the show "Kunst als Grenzbeschreitung: John Cage und die Moderne" at the Staatsgalerie moderner Kunst in Munich. In his work he focuses on multi-media art, in particular happenings, context art and computer art. He lives in Munich.

Timothy Druckrey is an independent curator, critic and writer concerned with issues of photographic history, representation and technology. He has taught in graduate programs at the International Center of Photography, the School of Visual Arts and the Center of Creative Imaging. He lectures internationally on the social impact of digital media and the transformation of representation and communication in interactive and networked environments. He co-organized the international symposium Ideologies of Technology at the Dia Center of the Arts and co-curated the exhibition Iterations: The New Image and edited the book published by MIT Press. He has contributed extensively to numerous publications and is co-founder of Critical Press. Currently Druckrey is writing a study on the relationship between technology and photography (forthcoming from Manchester University Press), editing Electronic Culture, collecting essays on social impact of digital technology, and working in curatorial collaboratives for exhibitions in Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Luxembourg and the US. He lives in New York City.

Curd Duca, born in 1955, lives in Vienna and the United States; member of the music/performance groups "auch wenn es seltsam klingen mag" and "8 oder 9". Since 1989, he has mainly worked with computers, making easy listening techno and electronic muzak. He composed a tide sequence for MTV Latina and is working on his fourth CD.

Fred Forest, Media artist, University of Nice Sophia-Antpolis, Chairman of "Science de l'Information et de la Communication". Director of the aesthetics of communication laboratory of the C.R.E.A. Member of Société Française des Sciences de l'information et de la Communication.

Karl Gerbel, born in Linz in 1939, he has been the chairman of the managing board of LIVA, the corporation which runs the Brucknerhaus, the municipal and sports halls, the stadium, as well as the Posthof and Kinderkulturzentrurn since 1984. He is a member of the board of directors of Ars Electronica.

Katharina Gsöllpointner PhD, born in Linz in 1959. She has been active in project organization and public relations for various projects and institutions in the fields of art and culture, contributing to numerous publications on art, architecture and culture and is currently the senior manager and artistic adviser of Ars Electronica. She is a member of the advisory council for media art to the Austrian Minister of Science, Research and Art and lives in Linz and Vienna.

Granular Synthesis. Kurt Hentschläger (born in Linz, A) and Ulf Langheinrich (born in Wolffen, D) are founding members of the Vienna media-art group PYRAMEDIA. Since 1992 they have been working on their joint project GRANULAR SYNTHESIS, which they have presented in the shape of various MODELS in Austria and abroad. In 1993 they were awarded the Austrian prize for the advancement of video art and in 1995 they received the ARTEC Grand Prix (Fourth International Biennial, Nagoya, Japan). Both artists live in Vienna.

Eva Grubinger, born in Salzburg in 1970, took a degree in visual communication at HdK Berlin, studied with Valie Export at the Media Center and attended of Joachim Sauter's master class. She received several scholarships to work abroad and in Austria andher works have been exhibited in a number of countries.

Agnes Hegedüs, born in Budapest (H), in 1964. Education: Hungarian Applied Art Academy, Budapest 1985-88; Minerva Academy, Groningen, Holland 1988; AKI Art Academy, Enschede, Holland 1988-90; Institut für Neue Medien, Frankfurt, Germany 1990-91. Grants and awards, amongst others from Stichting Fonds voor Beeldende Kunst, Holland, and ZKM at Karlsruhe, D; PRISMA-PRIZE für Computer Kunst Hamburgische Kulturstiftung 1993. Ars Electronica Honorary Mention Interactive Category 1993, SPARKY-AWARD, Interactive Media Festival. Los Angeles, USA, 1994.

Internationale Stadt e.V. Contributors: Barbara Aselmeier, Joachim Blank, Armin Haase, Karl Heinz Jeron, Thomas Kaufmann, Frank Kunkel, Gereon Schmitz. The object of the association is the development of an international city, a communication structure on the Internet and the following activities: the development of a decentralized area for archives, documentation and media accessible to the public and of a local computer network linked with global computer nets, the conception and organization of scientific event and research projects, the development and practical application of methods to deal with interactive media etc.

Pieter Jongelie, born in Eindhoven (NL) in 1962, he started at the Technical University of Delft doing Industrial Design. After two years he left for the Royal Conservatory in The Hague to study Music Registration, which combines a musical education with sound engineering. Since 1988 he has been freelancing as a sound engineer and designer for studios, art projects and theater. Drawn by the possibilities of spatial sound he decided to spend more time on this, which led him to the Rainstick idea.

Eduardo Kac, Assistant professor of New Media at University of Kentucky, Department of Art, his work is to be seen at WWW on the following sites:
solo exhibitions: http://wwwmitpress.mit.edu/LEA/ Back-Issues/lea2-12.txt
Ornitorrinco in Eden: http://www.uky.edu/ Artsource/kac/kac.html
Storm: http://www-mitpress.mit.edu/LEA/Gallery
Accident: ftp://convex.cc.uky.edu/pub/artsource/experimental.html
Insect.Desperto: http:/www.uky.edu/Artsource/ whatsnew.html
On Brazilian technological art: http://www-mit-press.mit.edu/Leonardo/home.html

Orhan Kipcak, born in Istanbul (TR) in 1957, studied architecture in Graz (A). Since 1980 he has been working in architecture, product and object design as well as journalism: he has also organized symposia and exhibitions. From 1983 onward he has worked with computers and since 1989 he has been involved with the Digital Media Studio. As of 1990 he has been designing multi-media software and interactive information systems for "steirischer herbst", REUTERS and others. He teaches at Graz Technical University.

KUNSTLABOR:
Max Kossatz lives and works in Vienna as a media artist. He is a founding member of KUNSTLABOR (media events include "More Media Torture", U 4 etc.) He is also a founding member of HILUS and participates in operating THE THING in Vienna.
Oskar Obereder lives and works in Vienna as a media artist. He studied at the Academy for Applied Arts in Vienna (master class for visual media design, headed by Peter Weibel). He runs the DEAD DOG GALLERY. In 1993 he founded the artists' forum "tausend meisterwerke" and is a founding member of KUNSTLABOR.
F.E. Rakuschan lives in Vienna as a free-lance writer. He focuses an art theory and media research and has contributed essays, reviews, catalog texts and text objects to publications in Austria and abroad. In 1991 he joined forces with A. Braito and H. Mark to produce the video "Objet Massacré -Kunsthandlungssyndrome der 80er Jahre" (33 min., commissioned by the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna). Since 1993 he has been a member of the discursive formation "tausend meisterwerke". He joined KUNSTLABOR in 1994 and was awarded the Austrian prize for the Advancement of Media Art in 1994.
Franz Xaver studied with Peter Weibel in Vienna. Teaching assignments include computer languages, audio-visual productions, electronics and electrical engineering at the Academy of Applied Art (until 1992) and communication theory at Graz Technical University. He has participated in numerous exhibitions in Austria and abroad, including Ars Electronica, Aperto Biennale di Venezia, Triennale di Milano, Bonn Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle. He is a founding member of KUNSTLABOR.

Les Levidov has been Managing Editor of "Science as Culture" since its inception in 1987, and of its predecessor, Radical Science Journal. He is the co-editor of several books, including Anti-Racist Science Teaching and Cyborg Worlds: The Military Information Society. As a research fellow at the Open University, he has been studying the safety regulations of agricultural biotechnology, He has been actively involved in the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, as well as Return, a Jewish anti-Zionist group.

Pierre Levy PhD, born in 1956, studied information and communication science in Grenoble and sociology as well as history of science in Paris. Since 1993 he has been Professor of Information and Communication Science at the Hypermedia Department at Paris-St Denis University. He works as an adviser to the Club of Rome, UNESCO, the French and Swiss governments, Centre Pompidou and other institutions and companies. His main interest lies in artificial intelligence, cognitive sciences, learning and computer, the cultural and digital revolutions as well as the economy of knowledge. His many publications include "L'Intelligence collective -pour une anthropologie du Cyberspace", Paris 1994, and "Les arbres de connaissances" (with M. Authier), Paris 1992. He lives in Pads.

Geert Lovink, Member of Agentur Bilwet, a free association of media-related intellectuals; radio program producer (Radio Patapoe and VPRO radio); co-founder of The Digital City, the Amsterdam based Freenet. In the past years he lectured in media theory in Budapest and organized several conferences on independent media, the arts and new technologies in Eastern Europe. In Amsterdam he co-organized the Wetware Convention (1991). The Next Five Minutes, Ex Oriente Lux (Bucharest 1993), the first Romanian media/art event, Metaforum 1 (1994), a first of a series of medialart conferences in Budapest. Among his publications are Adilkno's "Cracking the Movement" (NYC 1994) on the squatter movement in Amsterdam, "Hör zu oder Stirb" (Berlin 1992). "Medienarchiv" (Amsterdam 1992/ Düsseldorf 1993) and "Der Datendandy" (Mannheim 1994).

Antonio Muntadas, born in Spain and based in New York and Barcelona since 1971, Antonio Muntadas' artworks take form in video, multimedia and installation. In the past three years, his projects have been presented in New York, Tokyo, Stuttgart, Jerusalem, Winnipeg, Helsinki, and many other cities worldwide. He recently completed a ten year video study of the art world system entitled "Between the Frames: The Forum", which was presented in 1994 at CAPC (Bordeaux, France) and the Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus, OH). He teaches and lectures worldwide; in 1994 he was an artist-in-residence at the Ecole des Beaux Arts (Paris) and Arteleku (San Sebastian, Spain). In addition to helping maintain The File Room (opened May 1994), he is currently working on several large scale projects, including an outdoor video installation set to open in Marseille in summer 1995.

Norbert Nowotsch, born in 1948; studied sculpture, environmental design, audio-vision, media science, art history, sociology and philosophy. Since 1970 he has worked with AV media, photocopy, polaroids, computers with an emphasis on video: experimental and documentary tapes: participation in exhibitions and festivals; numerous publications on media topics; since 1987 Professor for Electronic Media at the Academy in Munster, D: since 1992 works with interactive media.

NUR SCHREC:
Mex Tremel, born in 1968, free-lance video and computer specialist studies at the Design Academy in Linz.
Michael Pointner, born in 1971, video engineer, does computer animations and multi-media productions with Pro Omnia Film in Linz.
Atarihardcore, born in 1962, musician, works in robot and rocket building.

Bruce Odland, born in Milwaukee/Wisconsin in 1952, he studied Music Composition at Northwestern University. Direct observation of the ambient sound environment and exploration has led Odland to find music in unusual places and create installations that make this hidden music perceivable. ("Sonic Excavation" @ Denver Art Museum 1979, "Riverworks" @ Aspen Center for the Visual Arts, 1980, "Rippleworks" @ New Music America, 1985). In the early 80's his pioneering work in theater sound design at Denver Center led to work with Peter Sellars, JoAnne Akalaitis, Laurie Anderson, and with theater, dance, film, radio, TV in the US and Europe. During his "Riverworks" installation in the Danube for Ars Electronica 87, Odland joined forces with Austrian composer Sam Auinger. Their work has included large-scale public installations in Linz, Rome, Berlin, Salzburg, and Vienna. They recently finished their second CD, "Resonance".
Odland lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife and family.

Mark Olson, born in l953, USA; he studied Literature, Journalism, Computer Science, Telecommunications, Conceptual Design, Fine Art, Art Theory and Criticism. He took part in numerous exhibitions and performances such as "Video Bar" 1990 with Sigi Torinus, Artists Television Access, San Francisco; "Spoonfest Betatest" 1993 as Computer/Video artist and performer, Life on the Water, San Francisco. He was guest speaker at conferences and has been Technology Editor of FAD Magazine in San Francisco since 1992.

Lev Manovich was born in Moscow in 1960. He holds an M.A. in Visual Science and PhD in Visual and Cultural Studies. He is an Assistant Professor of Imaging and Digital Arts at the University of Maryland, where he teaches theory and history of digital media and computer animation. He has published over twenty articles and also co-edited "Tekstura: Russian Essays on Visual Culture" (University of Chicago Press, 1993). Currently he is working on two book projects. One is a revision of his dissertation entitled "The Engineering of Vision from Constructivism to Virtual Reality" and the second is a collection of essays on digital realism.

Paper Tiger TV is a collective of media activists and videomakers who produce television in New York City. The group was formed in 1981, soon after public access cable became a reality in Manhattan. Paper Tiger's half-hour weekly shows on local cable TV provide a critical reading of mass media product. They are an on-going exploration of corporate information culture. Public access channels set aside for noncommercial use by the community give Paper Tiger a regular audience of channel zappers and die-hard fans. Paper Tiger has produced over 250 shows. These shows expose the economic and stylistic elements within commercial television, newspapers, magazines, and most recently, the information superhighway.

Anatoli Prokhorov, born in Oslo (N) in l948. In 1971, diploma on Theoretical Physics and Methodology of Sciences, in 1978 PhD in Methodology of Sciences and Theory of Culture. From 1978 until 1985 Scientific Director of Laboratory on Moving Theatre, Pantomime and Clownade of Union of Theatre Makers of USSR. Since 1979 member of Association of Animation Films of USSR, Research in the sphere of animation, film avantgarde, structure of film. From 1985-1991 chief of Seminar on Theory of Animation Cinema and Film avantgarde -founder and leading positions of "Pilot" Moscow Animation Studio (1988) and of "Pilot" Animatographic Center (1990). In 1992 scientific director of the Center on Audiovisual Anthropology and Multimedia at Russian Institute for Cultural Research. In 1994 one of the organizers and president of New Screen Technologies Association of Filmmakers Union of Russia.

Florian Rötzer, born in 1953 in Munich, he lives as a free-lance writer in Munich, Germany.

Saskia Sassen is a Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. She is the author of The Mobility of Labor and Capital (Cambridge University Press 1988) and The Global City: New York, London Tokyo (Princeton University Press). Her most recent book is Cities in a World Economy (Pine Forge/Sage 1994). She has recently completed ‘Immigrants and Refugees: A European Dilemma’ for Fischer Verlag in Germany, due out in September 1995. She has begun a new five-year research project entitled "Governance and Accountability in a World Economy", the first part of which will be published by Columbia University Press in 1996 under the title "On Governing the Global Economy".

Richard M. Satava is a practicing clinical and research general surgeon in the active duty Army Medical Corps currently assigned to General Surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and to research at the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). He is President-elect of the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) and active in numerous surgical and engineering societies. He has been continuously active in surgical education and surgical research with over 125 publications and book chapters in diverse areas of advanced surgical technology to include Video and 3-D imaging, Telepresence Surgery and Virtual Reality Surgical Simulation. He has been an active flight surgeon, an Army astronaut candidate, MASH surgeon for the Grenada Invasion and a hospital commander during Desert Storm. While striving to practice the complete discipline of surgery he is aggressively pursuing the leading edge of advanced technologies to formulate the next generation of surgery: Surgery – 2001.

Lisa Schmitz, born in Emmerich (D) in 1952, studied art history, Romance languages, philosophy, textile design, art education and fine arts. Since 1989, when she was awarded a scholarship, she has been to Moscow several times. From 1987-89 she organized the project "IICkunstBO" I and II Moscow-Berlin. From 1981-82 she taught at the Academy of Fine Arts and Technical University of Berlin; she was also a visiting professor at Giessen. Her works have been shown at solo and group exhibitions in Germany and abroad. Since 1993 she has translated a number of communication projects (Inter View Serie) into reality and has dealt with the WAPO concept.

Lucien Sfez, born in 1937, qualified as a university lecturer in 1964, took his agrégation teaching diploma in public law in 1966, became an assistant professor at Paris-Dauphine University in 1968 and a full professor at Paris-Dauphine University in 1970. From 1983-1986 he was the chairman of the National Council for Audio-Visual Communication (C.N.C.A.), head of the research diploma course on "Communication, Technologies and Power" and head of the Research and Study Center on Administrative and Political Decision-making (C.R.E.D.A.P.). In 1989 he became a professor at the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. He manages the collection "La Politique Eclatée", publishing house P.U.F., and is the managing editor of the journal QUADERNI (Communication, Technologies and Power).

Stacey Spiegel is an artist whose thesis on the mechanization of nature informs his multi-disciplinary work. He has been appointed to such positions as artist-in-residence at ZKM Karlsruhe, a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Visual Study at the MIT, artist in residence at both the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology and the Banff Center. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Toronto. His sculptures and computer- based artworks have been exhibited in many international venues and are included in both public and private collections. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Wolfgang Staehle. BFA, School of Visual Arts, NYC. Lives and works in NYC. Selected Exhibitions: Daniel Newburg Gallery, NY 1987, The New Museum, NY 1988, Sylvana Lorenz Gallery, Paris 1989, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, 1990.

STADTWERKSTATT TV:
In 1987 STWST-TV proceeded on the idea that each recipient could at the same time be a sender. What seemed so distant then has now been translated into reality as we "get high on data" from the information superhighway.
Peter Hauenschild, born in Linz in 1958, studied visual design at the Art Academy of Linz (master class of Prof. Laurids Ortner), is a painter, draughtsman, computer artist and writer. Numerous solo and group exhibitions.
Georg Ritter, born in 1956, studied stage design at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and visual design at the Design Academy of Linz. Since 1981 he has done cultural work with Stadtwerkstatt and artistic work in the following areas: art and architecture, drawing, video and live TV, installations, public events. He has participated in numerous group shows.
Thomas Lehner, born in Linz in 1963, he did his first works on super 8 film in 1975. He holds a diploma as a lithographer and was appointed to a number of essential positions within Stadtwerkstatt from 1983 onward. His artistic work comprises the following fields: painting, sculpture, installation, performance, music, film, video and computer art. Recently he has focused on live TV art, films and videos. Since 1987 he has played an important role in the Stadtwerkstatt – TV projects. He has planned and created all the equipment needed for video engineering and the live transmission studios for all STWST-TV projects. In addition, he has worked with mixed media.
Peter Donke, born in Linz in 1960. In 1977 he founded the rock band "Willi Warma" with which he was a bass player and composer. From 1978 – 1983 he played concerts and recorded songs with "Willi Warma". In 1986 he, Wolfgang Lehner, Gustav Dornetshuber and others, founded the cultural association "Assoziierte Produzenten". Apart from project-oriented work and event organization, he works as a photography and production assistant in industrial films. Since 1989 he has been employed by Stadtwerkstatt Linz, where he is in charge of human resources, administration, organization and technology development, events and controlling.

Luc Steels studied computer science at MIT (USA) and philosophy and linguistics at the University of Antwerp (Belgium), He is chairman of the computer science department at the University of Brussels (VUB) and director of the VUB artificial intelligence laboratory which he founded in 1983. He is currently a visiting researcher at the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Tokyo (Japan). Steels has published a dozen books on artificial intelligence including books on LISP programming and expert systems. His recent books focus on artificial life and behavior-oriented robotics. They include "The Biology and Technology of Intelligent Autonomous Agents" (Springer Verlag Berlin 1995) and "Building-Situated Embodied Agents. The artificial life route to artificial intelligence " (Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc, New Haven, 1995). Steels is the European editor of the Artificial Life Journal and a member of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Saburo Teshigawara began his unique creative career in 1981 after studying plastic arts and classic ballet. In 1985 he formed KARAS with Kai Miyata and started group work. In addition to solo performances and his work with KARAS Teshigawara is receiving increasing attention internationally as a choreographer. He choreographed a work for the Frankfurt Ballet in 1994. His ambitions span a wide range of genres – in 1991 he organized art exhibitions and in 1993 he produced his first film.

The Thing, founded in 1991 in NYC. Current nodes include The Thing Cologne, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Frankfurt, Basel and Stockholm. On Show projects include shows curated by Benjamin Weil, Shauna Sampson and Steven Overman and David Platzker. Solo shows by John F. Simon, Felix Stefan Huber, Craig Kalpakjian, Helena von Oldenburg, Rainer Ganahl, Jon Tower, Noriteshi Hirakawa, Janine Gordon, Wolfgang Staehle, Franz Stauffeberg and others. Electronic Editions projects by David Diao, Peter Halley, Rainer Ganahl, Rudi Motacek, Joseph Nechvatal. E-Text versions of art journals include The Journal of Contemporary Art, Lusitania Magazine, Lacanian Ink, Spex, Springer and more.

Reinhard Urban studied architecture and mathematics at Graz Technical University, works with the architects' firms Eisenköck-Domenig in Graz and at Graz Technical University, where he lectures on CAD applications. He is an AutoCAD specialist and writes applications in AutoLISP languages.

Paul Virilio, born in Paris in 1932, founder of the Ecole d'Architecture Spéciale, lives in Paris as an architect and writer.

Akke Wagenaar, born in NL. She studied audio-visual art logic and media arts. Since 1990 she has been studying, working and teaching at the Institut für Neue Medien in Frankfurt and the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. She has been involved with computer art from 1987, with interactive installations from 1991, and with networking art from 1994. Her work has been exhibited at several media art festivals in Europe and North America, such as the 'Ars Electronica' in Austria, the 'Images du Futur' in Canada and the SIGGRAPH art show in the USA. She is currently working and living in Cologne, Germany, where she is developing her work at the Academy of Media Arts.

McKenzie Wark is the author of "Virtual Geography: Living With Global Media Events", published by Indiana University Press. He lectures at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and is a columnist for The Australian newspaper, which as he says makes him a "lapsed Marxist in the pay of Rupert Murdoch." His writings have appeared in New Statesman, New Formations, Cultural Studies, Art & Text, and many other journals. He is a contributing editor to World Art magazine. He is presently working on a multi-media project called *Planet of Noise*. He can be contacted at Mckenzie.Wark@mq.edu.au

Peter Weibel, born in Odessa in 1945, he studied literature, medicine, logics and philosophy in Paris and Vienna and wrote his thesis on mathematical logics. From 1976 to 1981 he was alecturer in theory of form and from 1981,Visiting Professor of Design and Art at the Vienna University of Applied Arts as well as Visiting Professor at the College of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada. In 1979/80 he was Visiting Professor of Media Art, in 1981 lecturer in perception theory and in 1983 Professor of Photography at Gesamthcchschule Kassel. Since 1984 he has been Professor of Visual Media at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and since 1985 he has been Associate Professor of Video and Digital Arts at the University of New York, Buffalo. Since 1989 he has headed the Institut für Neue Medien at Städelschule in Frankfurt-on-Main. Numerous publicatons, e.g. "Wiener Aktionismus und Film" (with Valie Export), Vienna 1970, "Die Beschleunigung der Bilder", Bern 1987, "Vom Verschwinden der Ferne" (with Edith Decker), Cologne 1990, or "Das Bild nach dem letzten Bild" (with Christian Meier). Cologne 1991,"Kontext Art2, Dumont, 1995.

Melita Zajc, born in Ljubljana 1962. Studied sociology of culture, journalism and art history, 1984 to 1986 editor of culture at Student Radio, 1986 to 1989 editor of culture at Mladina, Ljubljana. She writes for Mladina and other magazines, works for film and TV producers, organizes the Autumn Film School. At the moment Zajc is Junior Fellow Researcher at the European Institute for the Study of Humanities, Doctoral Student at the Faculty of Philosophy in Ljubljana and Guest Student at the Visual Media Class of Peter Weibel, Vienna. She holds a Master of Sociology and has published numerous works.