MONIKA FLEISCHMANN & WOLFGANG STRAUSS
Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss are Berlin-based digital art pioneers. Since the mid-1980s, they have been working at the intersection of art and digital technology, ranging from virtual reality and interactive environments to generative art, and consistently exploring code and computers as artistic media.
They have developed two influential theoretical frameworks throughout their careers: the "Performative Interface" and "New Media Arts – The Thinking Space for Digitality." These concepts explore how computational systems can create dynamic, interactive spaces that transform our understanding of human-machine interaction and digital aesthetics.
The artist duo broke new ground by forming interdisciplinary teams in technical and scientific environments. They approached emerging technologies as tools and sources of artistic inspiration and cultural transformation.
Their pivotal role in the history of digital art was cemented in 1987 when they co-founded ART+COM, Germany's first research institute for digital media, art, and architecture. Their landmark works include Berlin-Cyber City (1989), an interactive roundtable that promoted East-West dialogue, and Home of the Brain (1990), the world's first virtual reality art installation to manifest philosophical thoughts about the digital future. Their acclaimed work Liquid Views (1992) reimagined the myth of Narcissus as a virtual mirror, exemplifying their ability to fuse classical narrative with computational innovation. Their artistic practice continues to explore the creative potential of emerging technologies. Virtual Studio TV (1995) pioneered live television broadcasting in virtual environments, while their work with neural networks and self-organizing maps led to netzspannung.org (2001), an "intelligent" media art archive, and its cinematic extension, Media Flow (2006).
Their series Between Zero and One (1988) experiments with generative transformation through algorithmic manipulation of 3D objects, while their mixed reality installation Energy Passages (2004) creates a computational language game through semantic analysis of daily news. Their research in gesture-based interfaces, culminating in the ECCO system (patented 2007), has revolutionized interaction design in exhibition spaces through applications like MARS Bag, Info-Jukebox, and PointScreen.
Their work has been exhibited at major institutions, including the Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, ICC Tokyo, ZKM Karlsruhe, and Haus der Kunst Munich. They have received prestigious awards for their contributions to computational art, including the Golden Nica for Interactive Art (1992) and the SIGGRAPH Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art (2018). Through their advisory roles in art and science, they continue to shape the evolution of art and technology research.
