Biographies




Alf Altendorf, born in Hartberg, Austria, in 1966, lives in Vienna. Various studies. Student at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Since 1988 exhibitions, film and media productions. He has worked for pirate radio stations in Austria and abroad and for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation. Public installations and events, mostly under the label R.A.M.S.

Joseph Bates was only seventeen when he received his master's degree in computer science at the Johns Hopkins University. He completed his Ph.D. at Cornell in 1979. His primary research interests are in artificial intelligence and interactive media. Today he is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science, and a Fellow of the College of Fine Arts, at Carnegie Mellon University, where he directs the interdisciplinary Oz project intended to provide the technological foundation for rich, emotionally powerful virtual worlds. Bates also works as a research scientist in the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT.

Louis Bec, born in 1936. He lives and works in Sorgues, France. Louis Bec is a zoo-systematist who studies the relations between art, science and technology. In 1970 he founded the Institut Scientifique de Recherche Paranaturaliste where he explores the inability of living beings to grasp life. In 1986 he was granted a scholarship by the Ministry of Culture to study the relations between the sciences of life (zoology, biology, genetics, etc.), the sciences of the artificial (bio-informatics, systematics, etc.) and the interpretative arts. At present he is working on a series of projects about animal behaviour. Louis Bec participated in numerous exhibitions in France, in Sao Paulo, Hannover, Zurich, Vienna, Paris, etc., and in several congresses in Europe, Brazil, and the USA.

Konrad Becker heads the Institute for Scientific Sensation. Since 1979 he has published interdisciplinary media programmes: video films, records, texts, installations, stagings and events. Exhibitions and concerts in the field of mathematical electronics, culture synthesis and "subjective science".

Tassilo Blittersdorff was born in 1946 in Bad Ischl, Austria; he studied at the Vienna and Salzburg Universities and at the Art Academy in Rome. Since then, his works have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Austria and abroad, e.g. at the Galleria d'arte visiva in Rome, Secession in Vienna, Ludwig's Drum Factory, Chicago, Warsaw Zacheta Gallery, Berlin Unwahr-Galerie, Krakow Q.Q. Gallery, at the Linz Francisco-Carolinum and at the Minoritenkirche church of Krems-Stein, Austria.

Peter Böhm was born in Prague in 1961. He studied violin, arrangement and theory of jazz, electroacoustics and experimental music. Founding member of Violent Violins. Sound engineering for numerous performances of works by Beat Furrer (such as "Foce cle la Chaleur", directed by Claudio Abbado) and Mauricio Sotelo (e.g. "Due Voci …", "Nel suono indicible", "Non gridate più"). Music for various video films by Gertrude Moser-Wagner and Matta Wagnest, among others. Electronic realization of the composition "Unruhiges Wohnen" by Roman Haubenstock-Ramati and Elfriede Jelinek. Recording and sound engineering of the opera "Amerika" by Haubenstock-Ramati. Founder of "Musiklabor Wien".

Rodney Brooks joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a faculty member in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 1984. He had previously worked at Stanford University and as a research scientist at both M.I.T. and Carnegie Mellon University. His research deals with robot technologies and artificial intelligence, among other fields. Dr. Brooks is co–founder of Lucid, Inc. of Menlo Park, California, co–founder and chairman of IS Robotics, Inc., of Somerville, Massachusetts. He was co-editor of the International Journal of Computer Vision from 1986 to 1991. He is a Founding Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. In 1991 he was co-winner of the Computers and Thought Prize awarded by the trustees of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence.

Christian Brünner born in 1942 in Mürzzuschlag, Austria. Christian Brünner is a professor of public law at the University of Graz. 1959/60 he was awarded a grant by the American Field Service, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1985-1989 he held the position of Dean of the Karl-Franzens-Universität, Graz. 1987-1989 he presided the Austrian Deans' Conference. Since 1990 he has been a member of Parliament for the conservative Austrian People's Party, speaker for higher education, since 1992 he has specialized in the counseling of minorities. His fields of research are: school and university law and politics, university management, policy planning, interest groups, public administration, financial planning, and the parliament.

John L. Casti born in 1943 in Portland, Oregon. John Casti received his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Southern California in 1970. In 1974 he left the USA for Vienna, Austria, where he became one of the first members of the research staff at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). With short breaks in the late seventies and early eighties, during which time he served on the faculties of NYU and Princeton, he stayed with IIASA, investigating problems of systems modeling and applied systems analysis, until late 1986, when he took up his current post as a Professor of Operations Research and Systems Theory at the Technical University of Vienna. He is also a resident member of the Santa Fe Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he is working on the application of biological metaphors to the mathematical modeling of economic and road-traffic questions. His numerous publications include technical monographs and textbooks as well as popular books on science: "Alternate Realities: Mathematical Models of Nature and Man", Wiley 1989; "Paradigms Lost: Images of Man in the Mirror of Science", Morrow 1989, and "Searching for Certainty: What Scientists Can Know About the Future", Morrow 1991, a volume dealing with problems of scientific prediction and explanation of everyday events. His next book, "Uncommon Sense", is a study of complex systems and the manner in which they give rise to surprising behavior. It will be published by Harper Collins, New York, in January 1994.

Nicholas Collins, bom in 1954 in New York City. Nicholas Collins has been composing and performing since the early 70s. He studied composition with Alvin Lucier at Wesleyan University. An heir to the tradition of "home-made" electronic circuitry, and a pioneer in the use of microcomputers in live performance, he also makes extensive use of radio, found sound material, and transformed musical instruments. He has performed and exhibited throughout the United States and Europe as a solo artist, as a member of David Tudor's "Composers Inside Electronics", with his own ensembles, and in collaboration with Tom Cora, The Downtown Ensemble, Shelley Hirsch, Impossible Music, Elliott Sharp, the Soldier String Quartet, John Zorn, and many others.

Stanislav Divis, born in 1953 in Kutná Hora near Prague. Stanislav Divis studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Solo exhibitions in Hungary, Germany and former Czechoslovakia. Collective exhibitions in many European countries as well as in Los Angeles, USA, and South Korea. In 1992 he took part in the Art Fairs at Frankfurt and Cologne, Germany.

Johannes Domsich, born in 1960. Johannes Domsich works as a graphic artist and designer. He is assistant and lecturer at the journalism and communication science department of the University of Vienna (special fields: media theory, media aesthetics, semiotics audio-visual communication and advertising). Besides, he teaches aesthetics and cultural history, architecture and stage design at the University of Fine Arts. He has worked as an artistic adviser and costume designer (dramatic adviser) at opera houses in Vienna, Dusseldorf, Duisburg, Dresden, Zurich, Basel and in Arnhem. He is the author of the book "Visualisierung – Ein kulturelles Defizit? Der Konflikt von Sprache, Schrift und Bild" (published by Böhlauverlag, Vienna 1991) and of various publications about communication science, visual semiotics, cultural history and computer technology.

Bartz Edek, born in Karaganda, Kazakhstan in 1946. Conception of the programme of the "Stimmen der Welt" series, in cooperation with Joachim Lieben. Staging and scenic planning of the tours of Frank Zappa, the Rolling Stones and the Queen.. Direction and logistics of several open air festivals in Europe, Japan and the USA. Programme conception of various jazz festivals in Austria. From 1977 on he has regularly worked for the Festival of Vienna. Founder of the "musical exhibition" Töne-Gegentöne (in cooperation with Wolfgang Kos), which takes place every two years. 1992 Documenta 9 in Kassel, jazz festival; 1993 Welttöne Indien contemporary, Vienna.

Gerhard Ertl was born in 1959. He studied visual design at the Art College in Linz. Member of the Austria Filmmakers Cooperative. Since 1987 he has been cooperating with Sabine Hiebler. Their films were shown at film festivals in New York, Berlin, San Francisco, London, Philadelphia, Melbourne, Madrid and Vienna.

Valie Export was born in Linz, attended the Arts and Crafts School in Linz and a technical college in Vienna. She lives in Berlin and in the USA. Her work comprises, among others, various forms of films, video tapes, video installations, performances, sculpture, computer works and publications about contemporary art history. Since 1968 she has participated in international art exhibitions in Paris (Centre Georges Pompidou), Kassel (Documenta) New York (Museum of Modern Art), Venice (Biennale), Frankfurt, Lausanne, Cologne, Munich, Vienna, London, etc., and in international film festivals in London, Los Angeles, Berlin, Cannes, Montreal, Vancouver, Locarno, etc. Besides, her films were shown by many TV companies. In 1980, Valie Export was the official representative of Austria at the Venice Biennale.

Thomas Feuerstein, born in 1968. Studies of Art History and Philosophy. Thomas Feuerstein lives in Innsbruck, Austria.

Friedrich Förster, born in 1952. The fact that Friedrich Förster is equally interested in science and art is fundamental for his work. Since the early seventies he has been especially involved in the artistic application of the physical properties of laser light. He followed scientific studies in Tübingen, in the late eighties he studied molecular neural biology at the Institute for Biophysical Chemistry of the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen. Lectures and publications in the fields of neural biology and psychophysics. Exhibitions and intermedial installations for Philip Morris, IBM, SEL, and others. Artistic collaboration with Yuri Smirnov, Dizzi Krisch, Nederlands Dans Theater, Paul Zorn, Robert Spout, and others. At present Friedrich Förster is collaborating with the physicist Kurt Walz on the development of interactive software and hardware for light and laser control systems.

Ulrike Gabriel, born in 1964. Ulrike Gabriel lives and works in Offenbach, Germany. She studied philosophy in Munich, then at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. She was granted a scholarship by DASA, for Helicopterlab MBB Ottobrunn. Since 1992 she has been at the Frankfurt-on-Maine Städelschule (Institut für Neue Medien). She is a founder member of OTHERSPACE (1993). Exhibitions in Sydney (TISEA), La Coruna, Spain (Vertigo Virtual), Madrid (Virtual 2), Frankfurt (Eigenwelt der Apparatewelt) and Tokyo (ARTLABS, Canon Artlab).

Thomas Grünfeld, born in 1956 in Opladen, Germany. Thomas Grünfeld lives in Cologne; various solo and group exhibitions in Europe as well as in the USA; 1990 Venice Biennale.

Daizaburo Harada, born in 1956 in Fukuoka, Japan. He studied art and design at Tsukuba University (including special studies of plastic arts and mixed media). He is a computer graphics artist and established the Digital Effects Laboratory, which he heads. Besides organizing the "RADICAL TV" performance video unit and performing "TV-WAR" with Ryuichi Sakamoto, he produced, among others, computer graphics for the film "NO LIFE KING" directed by Jun Ichikawa, and directed Hi-Vision work. At present, he is producing the TV computer graphics of "The Human BRAIN & MIND".

Ross Harley was born in 1961, he lives and works in Sydney. Ross Harley is a video-artist, writer, editor and pop culture commentator who works across a variety of media. Since the mid 1980s he has been exhibiting single channel videos and installation projects in Australia and abroad. He is a former Editor of the critical journal Art + Text and was Director of the Third International Symposium on Electronic Art held in Sydney, 1992. He presently teaches video and film studies at the University of New South Wales, and is completing a thesis entitled "Electro Attractions: A Critical History of Amusements from Roller Coasters to Virtual Reality".

Jochem Hendricks, born in 1959. Jochem Hendricks lives in Frankfurt-on-Maine. He was granted a scholarship by the Frankfurt Verein für Künstlerhilfe and a drawing scholarship (Nuremberg). In 1993 he received the Cologne VILLA ROMANA prize. Various solo and group exhibitions in Germany and in the Netherlands, the most recent ones being "Viren" at Galerie ak, Frankfurt-on-Maine (with Udo Koch) and at Kunsthalle Frankfurt.

Sabine Hiebler was born in 1963. She studied ceramics at the Art College in Linz. Member of the Austrian Filmmakers Cooperative. Since 1987 she has been cooperating with Gerhard Ertl. Their films were shown at film festivals in New York, Berlin, San Francisco, London, Philadelphia, Melbourne, Madrid and Vienna.

Wolfgang Hilbert was born in 1969 in Korneuburg, Austria. College of Electronic Data Processing and Organization, then he studied economics for three years. Now he is studying visual media design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Exhibition "Artware" (IFABO fair 1993)

Margarete Jahrmann, born in 1967 in Austria, studied at the University of Fine Arts in Vienna and at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Since 1989 various exhibitions and media projects in Austria and abroad, e.g. in Italy and in the Netherlands, Marlboro, Steirischer Herbst Graz 1992, Rabotnik TV. Public installations and events, mostly under the label R.A.M.S., e.g. for "museum in progress", Museum of Applied Arts, Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Since 1992 publications and factfinding travels to study international media structures in cooperation with K4.

Rainer Jessl, born in 1961 in Linz. 1981-91 lighting and stage design for productions of "Spielstatt" and "Theater Phönix" in Linz. 1991 co-author and performer in "Der kranke Raum" by "Theater Phönix" (Ars Electronica '91). 1992 lighting for "Immateriaux", for the "Austrian Sounds Cape", Offenes Kulturhaus, Linz, and for "4 Days of Absolute Music", Offenes Kulturhaus, Linz.

Tom Johnson, born in 1939 in Colorado, Tom Johnson studied music at Yale University and composition privately with Morton Feldman. In his compositions he proceeds in a more logical way than other American minimalists, often using formulas, permutations, and predictable sequences. Tom Johnson is perhaps best known for his operas, particularly "The Four Note Opera" (1972), which has been produced over 60 times, in 10 different languages, and "Riemannoper" (1988). Non-operatic works include his solo performance "Nine Bells", the often-played "Failing: A very Difficult Piece for Solo String Bass", and theatrical pieces such as "Self-Portrait" and the "Scene for Piano and Tape", as well as a number of works composed/written specifically for radio. In 1991 he completed his two largest works ever, the "Bonhoeffer Oratorio", with texts of the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and "Una Opera Italiana". A large collection of the articles he wrote as a music critic for the "Village Voice" was published in 1989 by Apollonius in Eindhoven, Holland, under the title "The Voice of New Music".

Ken Karakotsios is Principle Software Engineer at the software toy company Maxis. He has written the programmes CASim and SimLife, and co-authored the book "SimLife: The Artificial Life Experimenter's Handbook". Before turning to software he designed hardware. Among other places of employ, he spent four years at Apple Computer designing the Macintosh Quadra. family of computers. Ken Karakotsios lives in California with his wife, his cat and three computers. His hobbies include running, bicycling and trying to build cat-chasing roboters out of LEGO bricks.

Kevin Kelly edited the Whole Earth Review (a quarterly journal of unorthodox technical news) between 1984 and 1990. He co-founded the Hacker's Conference, a yearly gathering of maverick computer programmers, young code dudes and teenage crackers. In 1988 he published "Signal", the first sourcebook for cyberpunk culture. He is currently executive editor of "Wired", a new digital culture monthly magazine based in San Francisco. He is completing a book about artificial life, genetic art, and how machines are becoming biological. The book, "Out of Control, the Rise of Artificial Evolution" will be published by Addison Wesley in 1994.

Knowbotic Research. kr+cf uses information systems, communication networks, stores of knowledge and archives to dissect and analyze them before reassembling them again: Sprachprogramm (1991), ping Operation pong, in cooperation with Friedrich Kittler (1992), Archive (1992), hypervirus (1992). The smdk project (simulation space mosaic mobile data sounds project) was executed by Christian Hübler (media artist, general conception), Alexander Tuchacek (computer musician, real-time composition) and Yvonne Wilhelm (media artist, visualization), the computer scientists Georg Fleischmann, Detlev Schwabe, Michael Hoch, Will Bauer and Tobias Pfeil, and Rajele Jain.

Peter Kogler, born in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1959, he lives in Vienna. Exhibitions: 1986 Biennale in Venice, Italy ("Aperto 86"), Frankfurter Kunstverein ("Prospekt"), 1989 Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Gent, Belgium ("Open Mind"), 1992 Documenta Kassel, Germany, 1993 Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna (Excess in the Techno Mediacratic Society"), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris/Museum in progress, and others.

Kraftwerk. Discography: 1974 Autobahn (highway), 1975 Radio Aktivität (radio activity), 1977 Trans Europa Express (Trans Europe Express), 1978 Die Mensch Maschine (the human machine), 1981 Computerwelt (computer world), 1986 Electric Cafe, 1991 The Mix – all recordings on Kling Klang (EMI).

David Kremser was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1960. He studied at Pepperdine University. Numerous solo and group exhibitions in the USA, Belgium, Germany and Austria. David Kremers lives and works in Malibu, California.

Christopher G. Langton is a scientist in the Complex Systems Group of the Theoretical Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is also on the faculty of the Santa Fe institute, where he is director of the Artificial Life program. His undergraduate degrees are in Anthropology an Philosophy from the University of Arizona, and he holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Artificial Life pioneers Arthur Burks and John Holland. Christopher Langton organized the first international conference on Artificial Life at Los Alamos in 1987, and has since organized two more AL conferences. He has edited three proceeding volumes on Artificial Life, and is the editor of the new quarterly journal "Artificial Life". His research interests lie in the physics of computation, measures of complexity, computational biology, collective behavior, the origin of life, and evolution.

Leopold Larcher was born in Innsbruck in 1970. He attended the plastic design high school at Klagenfurt. Now he is a student of visual media design (with Peter Weibel, Rebecca Allen, Valie Export, Henry Jesionka, Steina Vasulka, etc.) at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Various solo and group exhibitions with video and computers in Austria.

Bernhard Leitner studied architecture at the Technical University of Vienna, he worked with the city planning authorities of New York City and taught urban design studies at the New York University. Numerous exhibitions in Germany (e.g. Documenta in Kassel), in the USA, France and Austria (e.g. Ars electronica in Linz, Steirischer Herbst in Graz). Since 1987 he has been Professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Since 1968 Bernhard Leitner has been doing SOUND-SPACE work: e.g. permanent installation at the Technical University of Berlin. Texts about his work were published in ARTEFORUM (New York), Das Fenster (Austria) and in the Documenta Dokumente (Germany), etc. in 1993 Mr. Leitner will participate in the Hamburg MEDIALE.

Gerhard Johann Lischka, born in 1943 in Muntlix, Austria. He lives and works in Bern, Switzerland as a freelance cultural philosopher and writer. He is the editor of the pocketbook series "um 9", published by Benteli-Verlag, Bern and organizer of various exhibitions, several TV programmes. Books by Gerhard Johann Lischka: "Die Schönheit der Schönheit: Super-Asthetik", "Kulturkunst, die Medienfalle", "Über die Mediatisierung: Medien und Re-Medien", among others. Editor of several "Kunstforum" volumes. In 1993 "Splitterästhetik" (a collection of writings from 1980 to 1993) will be published. Mr. Lischka teaches theory at various schools.

Thomas Locher studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. Numerous solo and group exhibitions in Germany, Austria, Italy, England, Northern Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary, Japan, Australia and the USA. Thomas Locher lives and works in Cologne, Germany.

Bernhard Loibner, born in 1965 in Villach, Carinthia. Sound engineering course, University of Interpretative Art in Vienna, study of data systems engineering at the Technical University of Vienna. Since 1987 ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, various works in the borderland between music, technology, media, etc. Piazetta Vienna - Piazza Virtuale (1992), IN HOUSE TV (1992), PERSONENRUFE (1993).

Reinhard Löw, born in Freising, Germany in 1949. He studied mathematics, pharmaceutics, philosophy and history in Munich. He received Ph.D. degrees in chemistry and philosophy. From 1977 to 1983 he was Scientific Assistant of Philosophy, then Professor of Philosophy in Munich. Founder member of the Hannover Forschungsinstitut für Philosophie. Lectureship at the Medical University of Hannover, Visiting Lecturer at the Magdeburg Akademie für Medizin In 1992/93 he substituted the Professor of Philosophy at the University of Munich. He is co-editor of the magazine SCHEIDEWEGE, of the international catholic magazine COMMUNIO and of "Schriften zur Naturphilosophie", published by Verlag Acta Humaniora, Weinheim. Spokesman of the executive board of CIVITAS, society for the promotion of science and art. He is the author of numerous publications.

Thomas Madersbacher, born in 1963 in Schwaz, Austria. Thomas Madersbacher played drums for a number of Austrian underground bands. In 1991 he was a co-founder of "Radio Boiler" and became a spokesman for the pressure group for free radio. 1992 "Do interactive broadcasting", a radio installation at the Academy of Fine Arts. Apart from regular broadcasts, Thomas Madersbacher works conceptually and politically towards the authorization of an independent radio station. He is an artist and journalist without means and lives in Vienna.

Klaus Madzia was born in 1966. He spent his childhood in England and Germany. He works as a journalist with the German magazine DER SPIEGEL, Hamburg.

Pattie Maes received her Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Brussels. Since 1990 she has worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology first as a research scientist at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and more recently as an Assistant Professor at the Media Laboratory. She is interested in Artificial Life and Artificial Intelligence and in particular spends her time modelling artificial autonomous agents of all sorts.

Franz Marksteiner, born in 1963. Studies of German Philology and Journalism at the University of Vienna. Diploma thesis on "Literature and Film". Lectures on Viennese film. Publications on film theory. Founding member of the edition PVS Verleger. At present, Franz Marksteiner is preparing a research project on Austrian film after World War II.

Gideon May, born in 1964 in Amsterdam. In 1984 he worked as a fashion photography assistant. Till 1986 he did special effects for films and TV. For the next three years he worked as an assistant cameraman. He has been working as a computer graphics programmer since 1987 and collaborated on a number of projects of Jeffrey Shaw. Video Narcissus (Torino 1987), The Legible City (Maastricht 1988), Nagoya Japan (1989), The Virtual Museum – Das Belebte Bild (Frankfurt 1991), Linz (1992). Since 1991 has been working for the Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Mario Merz, born in Milan, I, in 1925. Mario Merz is one of the most important European contemporary artists and is founder of the Arte Povera movement within Fine Art. He has done numberless personal exhibitions as well as retrospectives in the most important museums all over the world. Beside his igloos Mario Merz has become known also thru his artistic involvement with Fibonaccis series of figures.

Laurent Mignonneau, born in 1967 in Angouleme, France. He studied plastic art and plastic expression in France, in 1992 he was granted a scholarship for the Frankfurt-on-Main Städelschule Institute for New Media (Peter Weibel), where he works as an assistant of Michael Klein. Among others, Mignormeau was awarded prizes for photography and computer art. He took part in several concerts of experimental music and showed his art in exhibitions in France, Germany, in the USA and Austria. Cooperation with Christa Sommerer for the Interactive Plant Growing 3-D installation (Vienna), at Mediale '93 and INTERFACE 2 (Hamburg) and SIGGRAPH 93 artshow (California).

Masahiro Miwa, born in 1958 in Tokyo, Japan. Masahiro Miwa has been living in Germany since 1979. He studied composition with Isang Yun at the Hochschule der Künste (art university) in Berlin, and with Ganther Becker at the Robert-Schumann-Hochschule in Düsseldorf. Since 1986 he has been working intensively as a composer of computer music and has inspired and organized many concert performances. He has been teaching computer music and electronic music at the Robert-Schumann-Hochschule in Düsseldorf since 1988. In 1985 he was a guest composer at the STEIM studio in Amsterdam. In the same year, he received the Hambacher Prize; in 1989, he won the 1st prize at the 10th International Irino Awards, in 1991 the 2nd prize at the International Music Today Composition Contest held in Tokyo, and in 1992, the 1st prize at the 14th Concorso internazionale "Luigi Rossolo" in Varese, Italy.

Susanna Morgenstern, born in Vienna in 1956. She studied at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna (diploma with Oswald Oberhuber). in 1985 she took part in Literatur im März (artistic video and group work about "disturbances"), Museum of Applied Arts of Vienna. 1987: Steirischer Herbst (Graz, Austria), Trigon, "Video der 80erJahre". 1990: "see" computer work for Prix Ars Electronica. 1993: "weiter", wall news-sheet of museum in progress. Susanna Morgenstern lives and works in Vienna.

Lothar Müller. Doctorate in theology, dissertation on political ethics. Lothar Müller teaches at the Institute for public law and political science of the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He is a member of the Council for the Development of Technology in the Ministry of Research and Higher Education; member of the Austrian parliament and its commission on "Consequences of Technology: Genetic Engineering".

Niki Nickl was born in 1964 in Graz. Niki Nickl studied graphic art and painting with Oswald Oberhuber (Ernst Caramelle) at the Vienna University of Applied Arts. Art diploma in 1991.

Klaus Obermaier studied guitar at the Linz Bruckner Academy of Music and at the Vienna University for Music and Interpretative Art, and painting at the College of Art in Linz. 1990 Promotion Award for composition from the Upper Austrian Provincial Government. He worked with Ornette Coleman, Heiner Goebbels, Ensemble Modern/Frankfurt and the German Kammerphilharmonie. He toured Europe, the USA and Asia, and played at international Jazz and guitar festivals. Awarded composition commissions by various ensembles. Since 1991 he has worked on multimedia projects with the pianist Robert Spout, with whom he is also performing in duo concerts of new music.

Vraath Öhner, born in 1965 in Linz. Communications and Drama Studies at the University of Vienna. Founding member of the edition PVS Verleger. In 1992 Vrääth Öhner studied at UCLA. Several lectures and publications on film theory. Vrääth Öhner lives in Vienna.

Joachim Pense, born in 1958, studied mathematics in Mainz and Warwick and received a doctorate in 1988. Research work, development of software; records, compact discs, since 1980 he has had performances in connection with SELEKTION.

Dan Peterman, born in 1960 in Minneaoplis. He currently lives in Chicago. Dan Peterman studied in Chicago and Wisconsin. Several grants, including two sculpture fellowships by the Illinois Arts Council, and several project grants. Numerous solo and group exhibitions and installations in the USA, Germany (group show Tanya Grunert, Cologne) and at the 1993 Biennale in Venice, Italy.

Alexander Popper. According to Walter Serner, you should tell a different story every time somebody forces you to tell your biography. If they draw your attention to this, show indignation at the fact that you are not granted the discreetness everybody else may claim for himself. They will admire your imagination and believe anything they are told about you.

Przemyslaw Prusinkewicz studied computer science in Warsaw, where he received a Ph.D. degree. He was teaching at the Universities of Regina, Algier, Yale, and in Lausanne and worked as an invited researcher at the University of Bremen. Now he is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Calgary, Canada. Since the late 1970s he has been pursuing research in computer graphics. He originated a method for visualizing the structure and the development of plants based on L-systems. He wrote several textbooks and monographs, and numerous technical papers. His current work is focused on mathematical models of pattern formation in living organisms.

Thomas S. Ray received his Doctorate in Biology from Harvard University, specializing in plant ecology. In 1981 he joined the faculty of the University of Delaware, School of Life and Health Sciences, where he is now an Associate Professor. In 1993 he received a joint appointment in Computer and Information Science at the University of Delaware. In August of 1993, he will join the new Evolutionary Systems Department at ATR (Advanced Telecommunications Research International) in Japan, as a visiting professor. Thomas S. Ray is a tropical biologist who for more than 19 years has studied the evolution and ecology of a variety of organisms inhabiting rain forests. Most of his field work has been conducted in Costa Rica. Since 1982, he has worked principally at Finca El Bejuco biological station located in the rain forests of northern Costa Rica, which he built, and owns and operates. Thomas Ray has no formal training in computer science; he taught himself the C programming language in 1978. His interest in synthetic life started in 1980 while playing Go, however the interest lay dormant until 1989.

Holger Reichert, born in 1963 in Wuppertal, Germany. Studies of Media Theory. Founding member of the edition PVS Verleger. Holger Reichert teaches scientific media practice at the University of Vienna. Publications on film theory.

Rich.Art was born in Vienna in 1969. He graduated from the College of Electronic Data Processing and Organization, now is a student of visual media design (with Peter Weibel, Rebecca Allen, Valie Export, Henry Jesionka, Steina Vasulka, etc.) at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Various solo and group exhibitions with video and computers in Austria.

Alexis Rockman was born in 1962 in New York. Alexis Rockman studied at the Art Students League, New York, at the Rhode Island School of Design and at the School of Visual Art, New York. Solo exhibitions in the USA (e.g. Jay Gorney Modern Art, New York, The Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, and Tom Solomon's Garage, Los Angeles) and at the Salzburg Galerie Thaddäus Ropac. Group exhibitions at the Venice Biennale, at the Venice Guggenheim Museum, and at numerous galleries and art centres in the USA.

Reimara Rössler, née Waible, born in Hamburg. In 1964 M.D. in pathology. In 1966 teaching assistant at the Medical University Hospital of Marburg. In 1969 winner of a fellowship to the Ernest Witebsky immunological laboratory in Buffalo. In 1973 she became lab director and in 1975 Professor, at the Medical University Outpatient Clinic of Tübingen. Numerous publications on virology, hematology and endocrinology.

Dieter Roth, born in 1930 in Hannover. Dieter Roth studied graphic design in Bern. Through Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri, Roth meets members of the Fluxus movement. Collaborative work with Dick Higgins, Nam June Paik, Charlotte Moorman, George Brecht and Emmett Williants. From 1957 to 1964 he lived in Rejkjavik, Iceland. Through Spoerri and Jean Tinguely, Roth meets Richard Hamilton; they collaborate on various projects. From 1964 to 1967 Roth taught at Yale University, the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, and the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1968, he begins publishing with Edition Hansjörg Mayer. In 1970 he exhibits "Staple Cheese, a Race", a sculpture composed of 40 suitcases filled with cheese, in Los Angeles. Roth continues to use non-traditional materials: music, garbage, chocolate, sour milk. He now lives in Switzerland and Iceland.

Florian Rötzer, born in 1953 in Munich. He lives as a freelance writer in Munich, Germany.

Helmut Ruis, born in Vienna in 1940. He studied chemistry at the University of Vienna. From 1965 to 1967 Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Since 1986 he has been Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Vienna (Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology Department). Visiting professor and researcher at Campinas University, Brazil, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, Seattle. Coordinator of the genetic engineering research programme of the scientific research promotion fund of Vienna. Coordinator of the establishment of the Vienna Biocenter.

Peter Sandbichler was born in Kufstein, Austria, in 1964. He , attended a sculpture school in Innsbruck, then he studied at the Art Students League in New York City (with Martin Knox), at the Vienna University of Fine Arts (with Bertoni) and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (with Bruno Gironcoli). Solo exhibitions at Galerie Krinzinger, Innsbruck, and Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna. Group exhibitions: (among others) Secession of Vienna; Graff gallery, Montreal; Kunstbüro Berlin (in cooperation with Arye and Simon Wachsmuth); Galerie Museum in Bolzano, Italy, Grand Palais, Paris; in Los Angeles and Rostock, Germany.

Stefan Schemat, born in 1960 in Rinteln/Weser (Germany). He studied psychology in Göttingen and works as a research assistant at the University of Göttingen, where he deals with mental representations and states of consciousness devoid of sensory components. Another field of activity is the investigation and utilization of machine-induced trance. His machines are used in specialized hospitals and medical offices in the field of psychotherapy. At present, he is testing the use of trance-inducing machines in the field of creativity training.

Horst Seidler, born in Vienna in 1944. He studied human biology and psychology at the University of Vienna, where he received a Ph.D. degree in 1972. He worked as scientific assistant at the Institute for Human Biology (the former Anthropology Institute) of the University of Vienna. In 1979 he received the habilitation degree In 1984 he became Professor of Human Biology. He is author and co-author of numerous technical papers for magazines and congresses, and of several books.

Gebhard Sengmüller, born in 1967 in Vienna. He studied at the Vienna University for Music and Interpretative Art and attended a college course at the Institute for Electroacoustics. Founding member of PYRAMEDIA. 1990 to 1992: TERMINAL TAPES at WUK in Vienna; VEEJAY DEEJAY video live mix installation in Vienna; VEXILLOMAT facade installation in Vienna; TRANSFORMATOR – documentation. of the Austrian TV programme "Kunststücke"; direction of the VIDEO PRESS CONFERENCE of the "Tanzsprache" dancing festival in Vienna; CONTAINER – live musician, in Vienna. Since 1992 he has been studying with Peter Weibel at the Vienna University of Applied Arts. 1993: INDOORVEXILLOMAT installation at Brussels; TV POETRY experimental–arrangernent 1/93.

Karl Sims received a B.S. in Life Sciences from M.I.T. in 1984. After working at Thinking Machines Corporation for a year he returned to M.I.T. to study graphics and animation at the Media Laboratory and received an M.S. in Visual Studies in 1987. He then joined the production research team at Whitney/Demos Productions in California, and later became co-founder and director of research for Hollywood based Optomystic. He currently works once again at Thinking Machines Corporation as a research scientist and artist, where he explores new techniques for creating images with computers. His recent works of animation include "Particle Dreams", "Primordial Dance" and "Liquid Selves". His interactive works include "Interactive Video Kaleidoscope" and "Genetic Images".

Christa Sommerer, born in 1964. She studied botany, then she turned to sculpture studies with Gironcoli at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, from where she graduated in 1990. In 1991 she began to study at the Frankfurt-on-Maine Städenschule Institut für Neue Medien (with Peter Weibel). She was granted scholarships for Germany and the USA, among others. Since 1990 she has participated in numerous exhibitions in Vienna, Hannover, Hamburg, Paris, Helsinki, etc. Cooperation with Laurent Mignonneau for the interactive Plant Growing installation (Vienna), at Mediale '93 and INTERFACE (Hamburg) and SIGGRAPH 93 artshow, California ("Machine Culture: The Virtual Frontier").

Laetitia Sonami has been performing her live electronic solo works for the past 15 years in numerous venues in the USA and abroad. She has pursued the development of personalized electronic equipment and has exploited the more readily available electronic technologies. For the past three years she has spent some time at STEIM in Amsterdam where she has developed and adapted new gesture controllers to musical performance and composed works with these materials. She is currently performing solo electronic works based on texts by Melody Sumner and is developing a new work with the Canadian composer Marie Goyette.

Robert Spour studied piano at the Linz Bruckner Academy of Music. Prizewinner at the Brussels international jazz Festival. In 1980 he began to work with computers and electronic sound producers. Since 1984 he has been implementing electronic projects with various improvisation ensembles. Concerts and recordings with the German Kammerphilharmonie. Toured Europe and the USA. Awarded composition commissions by various ensembles (wind instrument ensemble Pro Brass, Upper Austrian Kammerorchester). Music for theater and performances. Since 1991 he has worked on the multimedia project "Immateriaux" with the guitarist Klaus Obermaier, with whom he is also performing at concerts in Europe and the USA.

Katrin Stockhammer was born in 1966. In 1986 she began to study genetics and botany. She deals with science and the public.

Klaus Strickner, born in 1959. Klaus Strickner lives in Vienna and Innsbruck, Austria.

Melody Sumner was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1951 and is the author of a collection of stories, "The Time is Now", and short works of fiction published in numerous magazines and anthologies. She has worked as chief editor for Burning Books for the last ten years. In 1987 Burning Books produced "The guests go in to supper", a collection of interviews, essays and texts by seven American composers. In 1991 Burning Books published Robert Ashley's "Perfect Lives". Ms. Sumner will soon publish a collection of stories titled "Dialogue Between the Self and Its Angel", and "Horses Run on Wheels", the biography of a Tibetan man.

Tamiko Thiel, born in Oakland, California in 1957. B.S. degree in General Engineering/Product Design at Stanford University in 1979. From 1979 to 1981 Tamiko Thiel worked at Hewlett Packard as a Packaging Design Engineer. In 1983 M.S. in Mechanical Engineering – Studies in Man/Machine Interface and Visual Communication at the M.I.T. Media Lab. From 1983 to 1985 Tamiko Thiel worked at Thinking Machines Corporation. and studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts from 1985 to 1991. Video exhibitions in Japan and Germany. Tamiko Thiel currently lives in Munich, Germany.

Mark W. Tilden, born 1961 in Stroud, England. Mark Tilden moved to Canada at the age of two. He built his first robot doll at the age of three out of wool scraps. He built device after device through grade and high school winning numerous science fairs before attending the University of Waterloo in Systems Engineering. Finishing with his Masters, he now works as a Design Engineer in the Math Department of that University. His job includes such boring things as designing computer controlled model railways. He does his robot work independently and after hours because it's interesting.

Naoko Tosa, born in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1961. Naoko Tosa has won a number of prizes, (e.g. at the International High Technology Art Exhibition, Tokyo, and at the American Film & Video Festival, New York). He participated in SIGGRAPH, Anaheim, California (1986, 1987 and 1993), Computerkulturtage Linz, Austria (1987 and 1988), in the International Video Festival of Locarno, Switzerland (1990), an at exhibitions in many places in Japan, France, Canada, the USA and Slovenia.

Albina Mirella d´Urbano was born in 1955 at Tivoli, Italy. She studied philosophy at La Sapienza University, Rome, and painting with Enzo Brunori, also in Rome. Then she went to Berlin to study visual communication (focusing on audio-visual media). Promotion of the edition of "Das kleine Fernsehspiel" (ZDF TV channel) for realizing the video "Kreis, der". NaFöG scholarship of the Berlin HdK University; scholarship of Röhm GmbH company, Darmstadt, Germany, and scholarship Eurocréation, Paris.

Meyer Vaisman, born in 1960 in Caracas, Venezuela. Meyer Vaisman studied at the Parsons School of Design in New York and is living and working in New York.

Roman Verostko was born in Tarts, Pa. in 1929. He studied at the Pittsburgh Art Institute, St. Vincent College, Latrobe, Pa., at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, and in Atelier 17, Paris. He worked in various colleges in the USA and in China (Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts). Director of the Fourth International Symposium on Electronic Art. His computer generated art has been shown numerous times in the USA (e.g. SIGGRAPH'92 Art Show, Chicago), in Finland, Monte Carlo (Institut National de l'Audiovisuel, 1992 and 1993, Australia (Third International Symposium on Electronic Art in Sydney, 1992) and South Korea (Seoul International Computer Art Festival, 1992).

Johannes Voggenhuber was born in 1950. From 1977 to 1982 he was spokesman of the Salzburg citizens' initiatives. From 1982 to 1987 he was the first member of the Green Alternative Party to become a member of the Salzburg city council, responsible for town planning, building activities, town-centre rehabilitation, traffic and environment protection. Development and implementation of the "Salzburg-Projekt", a comprehensive town development scheme. From 1988 to 1991 he was national manager of the Green Alternative Party, since 1990 he has been a member of parliament and head of the Green parliamentary faction. The main fields of his political work are European integration, constitution, democracy, building policy, culture and genetic engineering.

Matthias Wabl was born in Graz, Austria in 1946. He studied chemistry at the Technical University of Graz and received a Ph.D. degree at the Berlin Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in 1973. He was a member of the institute for immunology in Basel, Switzerland and headed the Immunology Group of the Max-Planck Institute's Friedrich Miescher Laboratory in Tübingen, Germany. In 1984 he began to work at the University of California, San Francisco, where he has been Professor at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology since 1988. He was granted various honors and awards, e.g. the Golden Antibody Prize (1992) for developing antibodies that mediate killing of HIV-infected cells, Wabl is the author and co-author of numerous publications. Two patents pending.

Arye Wachsmuth was born in Hamburg in 1962 and spent her childhood and youth in Israel. She lives and works in Vienna. Various solo and group exhibitions: video presentation at Kölner Kunstsalon in Cologne, Germany, participant in the 2e biennale internationale du film sur Fart in Lyon, at Galerie Kunstbüro, Berlin (in cooperation with Simon Wachsmuth and Peter Sandbichler), exhibitions at the University of Istanbul, Kunst.Raum Dombirn, Austria, Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna, etc.

Akke Wagenaar, born in 1958 in the Netherlands. Akke Wagenaar studied audiovisual arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, at the Cooper Union Art School in New York, USA, and logic at the University of Amsterdam. In 1990 she moved to Germany to work and teach at the Institut für Neue Medien (institute for new media) in Frankfurt/Main. She is currently a fellow at the Kunsthochschule für Medien (media arts college) in Cologne. She has been working with computers since 1987. From 1990 she has worked intensively in the field of interactive, 3-dimensional computer art, writing her own software. She exhibited her work at several festivals in Europe. She won several grants and awards.

Ernst Wagner, born in 1969 in Dachau, Germany but has been living in Austria since his childhood. He studied chemistry and biochemistry at the Technical University of Vienna, from where he graduated in 1983. In 1985 he received a Ph.D. degree at the Institute for Organic Chemistry at the Technical University of Vienna. He was an assistant at ETH in Zurich; in 1988 he began to work at the institute for Molecular Pathology in Vienna. His research work deals with transfer of genes and artificial viruses, among others. in addition, since 1992 he has been working with Bender&Co, Vienna, where he is heading a unit that deals with the development and production of vaccines for genetic therapy. Numerous lectures and publications at home and abroad, 14 patents pending.

Erwin Friedrich Wagner, born in 1950, Wolfsberg, A. He studied Biochemistry at the University of Graz and Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Berlin. He worked at various Institutes in Europe and USA, e.g. the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, Institute of Biochemistry in Innsbruck, Institute for Cancer Research in Philadelphia and the EMBL in Heidelberg. Currently, he is a Senior Scientist at the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna. Since 1982, he holds a lectureship/habilitation in Molecular Biology at the Institute for Biochemistry at the University of Innsbruck. In 1990 he won the EMBO Medal for the Development of Powerful Gene Transfer Techniques, Transgenic Mice and EC/ES cell Technology.

Kurt Walz, born in 1955. Kurt Walz grew up near Karlsruhe, Germany. During his school-days, he dreamed of a post-humanistic era. He studied physics, focusing on nuclear physics, which led him to dream of a post-technicized era. Then he received his diploma in physics, specializing in computer technology and circuitry. For Kurt Walz, the fascination of using lasers, electronics, and computers as combined creative means does not lie in the challenge of perfection. Rather, it has become his concern to collaborate with performing artists in order to enable them to use complex media such as laser light. From an artistic and scientific point of view, Kurt Walz is interested in questions of synergy, above all the combination of light and sound. From a technical point of view, he is concerned with interactive means of creativity. Were he to select a label for himself, he would opt for "post-installative".

Peter Weibel, born in Odessa in 1945. Peter Weibel studied literature, medicine, logics and philosophy in Paris and Vienna and wrote his thesis on mathematical logics. From 1976 to 1981 he was lecturer of theory of form, and from 1981 on Visiting Professor of Design and Art at the Vienna University of Applied Arts and Visiting Professor at the College of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada. In 1979/80 he was Visiting Professor of Media Art, in 1981 lecturer of perception theory and in 1983 Professor of Photography at Gesamthochschule 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-Maine. Numerous publications, 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.

Dietmar Wiesner, born in 1955. Dietmar Wiesner studied flute with Paul Meisen at Musikhochschule Detmold and attended seminars with Aurele Nicolet and Jean-Pierre Rampal. Since 1980 he is a musician and director of the Ensemble Modem in Frankfurt-on-Main, the emphasis being on programme conception. Dietmar Wiesner has had numerous performances at international festivals and has worked as a soloist with the Ensemble 13 Karlsruhe on tours in Europe, Asia and South America. He had numerous recordings with the Arditti Quartett in London and has cooperated with composers like Pierre Boulez, Peter Eötvös, Heiner Goebbels, Hans-Werner Henze or Györgi Ligeti.

Achim Wollscheid. Artist – he lives and works in Frankfurt-on-Main.

Franz Xaver, born in Linz, Austria, in 1956. From 1987 to 1991 he was a teacher at the Vienna University of Applied Art (computer graphics, audio-visual production, electronics and electrical engineering), from 1989 to 1991 he worked at the University's visual media laboratory. Numerous exhibitions in Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic and Germany, e.g. "Sphärenklänge" at the Venice Biennale of 1990, where music was produced by the visitors' interactions with cloud formations; or an installation with an earth observation satellite at the Milan Triennale in 1992.

Larry Yaeger carried out pioneering simulations of fluid flows in the space shuttle, as well as the first complete simulation of hydrodynamic flows over a submarine. He was Director of Software Development at Digital Productions and one of the principal architects of their computer graphics software, contributing to the development of software tools, simulations, and production techniques as seen in the films "The Last Starfighter", "2010", "Labyrinth", as well as in Clio award winning commercials. He has recently coauthored a book and multimedia CD-ROM on "Visualization of Natural Phenomena" for Springer Verlag. As a Principal Engineer with Apple Computer, he designed and implemented the software to give Koko the gorilla a computer-based "voice", and integrated Macintosh graphics into routine film production for "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Larry Yaeger is currently studying artificial life and artificial intelligence. He has presented his work on PolyWorld, an artificial life simulator, at the Artificial Life III Conference, SIGGRAPH, and Imagina, and has had his work written about in both the popular press and Steven Levy's book, "Artificial Life. The Quest for a New Creation".

Wolfgang Zinggl studied painting and stage design at the Vienna University of Applied Arts, and psychology at the University of Vienna. He wrote his thesis on changes in the perception of pictures if they are shown laterally inverted. He works as an assistant at the Technical University of Vienna. Publications about theories of perception and art. He is a critic and teacher of psychology, perception theory and morphology of art at various colleges and universities.