[Asis-l] Database of Virtual Art - now public

[Pete Otis]

DATABASE  OF  VIRTUAL  ART   -  now public

For the first time, the DATABASE OF VIRTUAL ART has been developed to
specifically document digital installation art. This type of art has rapidly
evolved over the last decades and is emerging into our most contemporary
art.

In close cooperation with established media artists, researchers and
associated institutions, a complex overview of the immersive, interactive,
telematic and genetic arts is being developed.  This new documentation
instrument, appropriate to the needs of processual art, is built in Open
Source Technology. It is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
and the Federal Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF).

The Database of Virtual Art is both an evolving research instrument and a
work in progress, changing according to the ongoing development of the
field.  Its documentation system will also serve as a predesessor for the
systematic preservation of this art.  Due to the fact that virtual art is
totally dependent upon storage media, it is no exaggeration to say that an
entire decade of art threatens to be lost for all time.


The Database:

http://virtualart.hu-berlin.de/


Considering the fundamental differences of virtual art, the documentation
system reaches beyond traditional data by especially focusing on information
about technical requirements, installation settings, blueprints,
software-hardware configurations, interface and displays. Video
documentation has strategically been given a core role, due to its ability
to show the processual nature of these works – with more than 100 videos
created by the artists.  Institutions displaying media art and media theory
researchers also hold a prominent place in the database. For further
information on the concept of database: http://www2.hu-berlin.de/grau/ click
on “datenbank/database”


The web interface allows the artists, researchers and institutions to post
the information themselves, so that gradually an elaborate information
network and communication platform grows.  Since the database is in the
first phase of being available to the public, you are encouraged to check
the site frequently over the coming months and watch the growth of this new
web-based research instrument.


Database of Virtual Art

DIRECTION, SCIENTIFIC CONCEPT AND ARTISTS NETWORK
Dr. Oliver Grau

TECHNICAL CONCEPT AND DATABASE
Christian Berndt, M.A.

VIDEO DOCUMENTATION, PRODUCTION AND EDITING
Robert Lößl

EDITING AND ARTISTS NETWORK COMMUNICATION
Anne Peterok, M.A.

COORDINATION WITH MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
Wendy Jo Coones, M.Ed.



FOUNDING ARTIST MEMBERS: Christa Sommerer/Laurent Mignonneau, Paul Sermon,
Charlotte Davies, Jeffrey Shaw, Jill Scott, Ken Goldberg, Daniela Alina
Plewe, Agnes Hegedüs. Maurice Benayoun, Suzanne Anker, Zoe Beloff, Eduardo
Kac, Michael Naimark, George Legrady, Bernd Lintermann, Monika
Fleischmann/Wolfgang Strauss, Seiko Mikami, Louis Bec, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer,
Knowbotic Research, Myron Krueger, Luc Courchesne, Lev Manovich, Thomas Ray,
Nell Tenhaaf, Karl Sims, Joel Slayton, Bill Seaman, Jack Ox, Jane Prophet,
Roy Ascott, Jean Baptist Barriere, Toni Dove, Simon Penny, Fabricators,
Yanis Melanitis, Toni Dove, Victoria Vesna, Paul Yuxweluptun, Rebecca Allen,
Andrea Zapp.