DrWolfgang Muench

Organisation Structure

Dr Wolfgang Muench

Dean, Learning, Teaching & Research
Wolfgang Muench
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Theatre, Film and Media Studies), University of Vienna, 2017
  • Diplom Freie Grafik (MA Fine Arts equivalent), State Academy of Art and Design Stuttgart, Germany
  • MAS Masters of Advanced Studies, ZHdK University of the Arts Zurich, Institute for Design and Technology, Switzerland

Dr Wolfgang Muench is a media artist and arts educator. He joined LASALLE in 2003 and was appointed the inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Media Arts, a position he held until 2016. In his artworks and research, Dr Muench examines sociocultural and societal effects and impact of media technology and human computer interfaces. His interactive installations and artworks, including Bubbles (in collaboration with K. Furukawa), and Small Fish (in collaboration with K. Furukawa and M. Fujihata), have been shown in numerous international media art exhibitions and festivals across Europe, America and Asia.

Dr Muench studied Fine Arts at the Stuttgart University of Art and Design, and the University of Applied Arts Vienna. In 1996, he joined the ZKM Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe in Germany as programmer and software designer. He was involved as a software designer in various projects at the ZKM institutes of Visual Media, Music & Acoustics, and Network-Development, among others the Panoramic Navigator and the CD-ROM series artintact and digital arts edition.

Dr Muench taught interactive media at Merz-Academy Stuttgart, the Hong Kong Art Centre / The Art School, and was Artist-in-Residence at ARS Electronica Linz, Austria and IAMAS Institute for Advanced Media Arts and Science, Ogaki, Japan. In 2017, he received a Doctoral Degree (Dr. phil.) from the University of Vienna.

Publications (select)
  • System Designs for Arts Pedagogy, Cumulus Conference Proceedings, Paris 2018 (03/18) (2018)
  • Sound of Ikebana, in Sound of Ikebana, Four Seasons, ed. N. Tosa,  Singapore: Naoko Tosa/ArtScience Museum Singapore (2014)
  • No/w/here: Scenographies for SomePlaceElse, in Space and Desire: Monitoring Scenography 03, eds. T Brejzek, W Greissenegger and L Wallen, Zurich: ZHdK (2010)
  • A Cultural Language of Things, in Space and Desire: Monitoring Scenography 02, eds. T Brejzek, W Greissenegger and L Wallen, Zurich: ZHdK (2009)
  • Presence/Absence: The 2005 ACM Multimedia Interactive Art Exhibition, IEEE Multimedia, 13(1) (2006)

 

Documentations / Citations of media art works in print / Electronic publications (select)

  • Bubbles (Interactive machine-vision mixed-reality & sound environment):
    • Innocenti, P. (2015). Cultural Networks in Migrating Heritage. UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd
    • Chow, K. K. N. (2013). Animation, Embodiment, and Digital Media. London, NY: Palgrave Macmillan
    • Barker, T. S. (2012). Time and the Digital. US: Dartmouth College Press
    • Landesinstitut für Schulentwicklung Stuttgart. (2012). Meisterwerke der Kunst / Medienkunst. Germany: Neckar-Verlag
    • Del Favero, D., & Barker, T. S. (2010). Scenario: Co-Evolution, Shared Autonomy and Mixed Reality. Proc.: IEEE Intern. Symp. on Mixed and Augmented Reality, Seoul
  • Small Fish (Interactive Music / Active Score Music CD-Rom / Interactive machine-vision mixed-reality & sound environment):
    • Kwastek, K. (2013). Aesthetics of Interaction in Digital Art. US: MIT Press
    • Hamilton, R. (2013). Musical Sonification of Avatar Physiologies,Virtual Flight and Gesture. Proc.: 10th Intern. Symp. on Computer Music. France
    • Shaer, O., & Hornecker, E. (2010). Tangible User Interfaces. Foundations and Trends in Human-Computer Interaction, 3(1-2), 4-137
    • Spangenberg, P., Gendolla, P., Schmitz, N. M., & Schneider, I. (2001). Formen Interaktiver Medienkunst. Frankfurt, Germany: Suhrkamp Verlag
    • Stocker, G. (Ed). (2000). Active Score Music: Live Performance Recording at Bruckner Haus Linz (DVD). Linz, Austria: Ars Electronica Center / Futurelab
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Awards
  • Small Fish, Good Design Award, Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization, Category Interaction Design/Communication Design (2001)
  • Bubbles, Most Popular Showpiece by Visitor’s Vote, Art Lives, Art Museum Stuttgart, Germany, Grosse Landesausstellung ‘Kunst Lebt’, Stuttgart, Germany (September 2006)
Research and Practice

Media art projects

  • Obake: Interactive machine-vision mixed-reality & sound environment; Collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa; First exhibited at YCAM Yamaguchi, Japan (2003)
  • Let’s Make Small Fish: Interactive audio-visual workshop for children; Collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa; First performed at Niihama City Welfare Center, Niihama, Japan (2003)
  • FreudGeist: Interactive machine-vision mixed-reality dance performance Collaboration with Joulia Strauss, First exhibited at Graz03, Austria (2003)
  • Bubbles: Interactive machine-vision mixed-reality & sound environment; Collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa; First exhibited at IAMAS, Japan (2001)
  • Small Fish Tale II: Concert / interactive concert; Collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa and Masaki Fujihata; First performance at Ars Electronica Center Linz / Brucknerhaus (2000)
  • Small Fish Tale I: Interactive machine-vision mixed-reality & sound environment; Collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa and Masaki Fujihata; First exhibited at Ars Electronica Center Linz (2000)
  • Small Fish: Interactive Music / Active Score Music CD-Rom; Collaboration with Furukawa and Masaki Fujihata; Published by ZKM Center for Art and Media and Cantz Verlag Ostfildern (1999)

 

Conference presentations (select)

  • Panel chair, Landscapes, 13th Asian Cinema Studies Society (ACSS) conference The Environments of Asian Cinema, Singapore (2019)
  • Panel chair, Embodied, Situated Patterns and Generative Architectures, Interdisciplinary Symposium Is Big Data A New Media, Singapore (2018)
  • System Designs for Arts Pedagogy, Cumulus Conference, Paris, France (2018)
  • Panel chair, Now Here: The Desire for Space in Digital Nowhere, Monitoring Scenography 3: Space and Desire, Zurich, Switzerland (2009)

 

Memberships/curatorial (select)

  • Member of IKEA x UTS Future Living Lab Framing Symposium Committee, University of Technology Sydney, Australia (2018–present)
  • Member of MediaAC Consortium Board, EU Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree ‘Media Arts Culture’, Danube University Krems, Aalborg University, University of Lodz, Lasalle College of the Arts (2018–present)
  • Accredited Sector and Subject Specialist for Multimedia Game Design and Animation, HKCAAVQ Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, Hong Kong (2006, 2009–2012, 2014)
  • Member of Art Gallery Committee: Siggraph Asia, Hong Kong (2013)
  • Member of Art Gallery Committee: Siggraph Asia, Singapore (2012)
  • Member of Programme Committee: ACM Multimedia, Beijing, China (2009)
  • Member of Programme Committee: ACM Multimedia, Vancouver, Canada (2008)
  • Member of Programme Committee: ACM Multimedia, Augsburg, Bavaria (2007)
  • Member of Programme Committee: ACM Multimedia, Interactive Art Programme, Santa Barbara, USA (2006)
  • Co-chair and member of Curatorial Committee: ACM Multimedia 2005 Interactive Art Programme, Singapore (2005)

 

Participation in exhibitions (select)

  • Global Games, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (2015-2016)
  • Favorites, Kunstmuseum Ravensburg, Germany (2013-2014)
  • art-media-foyer, Fraunhofer-Zentrum Kaiserslautern, Germany (2012)
  • IMAGINING MEDIA@ZKM, Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (2010)
  • SkipCity, Kawaguchi, Japan (2009)
  • Uncharted: User Frames in Media Art, Santralistanbul, Instanbul, Turkey (2009)
  • Studio for Electroacoustic Music, Academy of Music, Krakow, Poland (2009)
  • III International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville, Seville, Spain (2008)
  • Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Santiago de Chile, Chile (2008)
  • Miicrowave International New Media Arts Festival, Hong Kong (2007)
  • ARS ELECTRONICA Festival, Gallery of the Province of Upper Austria, Linz (2007)
  • Gameworld: Playware, LABoral Centro de Arte y Creacion Industrial, Gijon, Spain (2007)
  • Sight&Sound, NTT-ICC Inter Communication Centre, Tokyo, Japan (2007)
  • Playback_Simulated Realities, Edith-Russ-Haus Odenburg, Germany (2006)
  • Kunst Lebt, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany (2006)
  • Ist der Ball rund?, Stadtmuseum Erfurt, Germany (2006)
  • ARTESCIENZA Spazio Deformato, Casa dell“Architettura, Rome, Italy (2006)
  • Artgames, Ludwig Forum Aachen, Germany (2005)
  • Phaeno Science Center, Wolfsburg, Germany (2005)
  • l’art de produire l’art, Le Fresnoy, Paris, France (2005)
  • Kunstfest Weimar, Weimar, Germany (2005)
  • ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (2005)
  • EMPAC, Experimental Media and Performing Art s Center, Troy NY, US (2005)
  • Exploratium, COEX, Busan, Korea (2005)
  • IHK Industrie und Handelskammer, Karlsruhe, Germany (2005)
  • San Francisco Scientific Exploration Festival, COEX, Seoul, Korea (2004)
  • KAMEX Korea Amuse World Game Expo, COEX, Seoul, Korea (2004)
  • Cluster, Torino, Italy (2004)
  • 5th Seoul European Film Festival, Megabox COEX, Seoul, Korea (2004)
  • BMW Group IT Community Event (2004), München
  • Art+Science2004, Insa Art Gallery , Gana Art Center, Seoul, Korea (2004)
  • Stadtgeburtstag, Karlsruhe, Germany (2004)
  • R+V Versicherung, Wiesbaden, Germany (2004)
  • Empire Concourse, Albany, NY, USA (2004)
  • Machmitmuseum Aurich, Aurich, Germany (2004)
  • YCAM Center for Art and Media, Yamaguchi, Japan (2004)
  • Panasonic-Center, Tokyo, Japan (2004)
  • Junior Museum, Troy, NY, USA (2003)
  • Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore (2003)
  • YCAM, Yamaguchi, Japan (2003)
  • TOKU Messe, Gifu, Japan (2003)
  • Maison et Objet fair, Paris France (2003)
  • Loisium, Langenlois, Austria (2003)
  • Dialogue with Light and Shadow, Niigata, Japan (2003)
  • Galerie Guelman, Moskow, Russia (2003)
  • Graz 2003, Graz, Austria (2003)
  • mediaterra, Athen, Greece (2002)
  • d-motion, Halle, Germany, (2002)
  • 1site2places02, Sindelfingen, Germany (2002)
  • Watermans Gallery, London, UK (2002)
  • Viper Festival, Basel, Suisse (2002)
  • ISEA 2002, Nagoya, Japan (2002)
  • Navigate@art - Faszination virtueller Welten, VW Forum Berlin (2002)
  • Laval Virtual 2002, Laval (France), 2002 (Juni)
  • ZKMusik, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe (2002)
  • Fushigi Expo, Shizuoka (Japan) (2002)
  • Digital Delights Festival, Macau / Hongkong (2002)
  • Lovebytes Festival, Sheffield (2002)
  • Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Stuttgart (2002)
  • Interaction01, International Academie of Media Arts and Science, Ogaki-City (Japan) (2001)
  • KAMUNA, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe (2001)
  • turbulence 01 / forum itinerant Le-Maillon, Strassburg (2001)
  • science + fiction / C3 Foundation , Budapest (2001)
  • Miraikan Science Museum, Tokyo (2001)
  • machine times, DEAF00, Rotterdam (2000)
  • Medien Kunst Aktuell / Update 2.0, Goethe Institut (2000)
  • Warschauer Musik Herbst, Warschau (2000)
  • Ars Electronica Linz / Brucknerhaus, Linz (2000)
  • Digital Alice / Media City Seoul, (2000)
  • The Electronic and Digital Art Show, Johannesburg South Africa (2000)
  • lounge #26 / interactive cybernetic music, Berlin (2000)
  • ARTE & COMUNICAZIONE, Rom (2000)
  • European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück (2000)
  • Radiator - The Digital Arts Festival, Nottingham (2000)
  • Exploding Cinema / International Film Festival, Rotterdam (2000)
  • Children Week, NTT-ICC Inter Communication Center, Tokio (2000)
  • Transmediale, Berlin (2000)
  • Sony Center Berlin / Music Box, Berlin (2000)
  • St‘Art, Strassburg (2000)
  • Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Stuttgart (2000)
  • Miniature Music, Kyoto (1999)
  • Cartoombria / Fondazione Umbria Spettacolo, Perugia (1999)
  • Prix Ars Electronica Tour Exhibition (1999)
  • Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe (1999)
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Current Practice and Research
  • Preparation of book publication from PhD thesis: Interfacing Cultural Spaces: Audiences and the Politics of Cybernetics in Interactive Media Art
  • Re-launch of interactive machine-vision mixed-reality and sound environment BUBBLES, funded by Japanese Ministry of Research, Collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa
Research Interests
  • Sociocultural and societal impact of digital media technology and human-computer interfaces
  • Artificial intelligence in contemporary artistic practice
  • Participatory content creation processes in distributed online learning spaces
  • System theory and its application to interdisciplinary mediated art practice in the 1960s
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