Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 16, No. 352.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/
Submit to: humanist@princeton.edu
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 06:31:15 +0000
From: Arun-Kumar Tripathi
<tripathi@amadeus.statistik.uni-dortmund.de>
Subject: VIRTUAL ART: From Illusion to Immersion', Oliver Grau
It is an exquisite hono(u)r for me to tell you about the new book of Dr.
Oliver Grau.. The book is breaking new ground in the field of Computer
technology and virtual art.
Virtual reality (VR) is a constant phenomenon in art history that can be
traced back to antiquity. It can involve an area of ritual action, a
private, artificial paradise, or a public sphere with politically
suggestive power--in short, it encompasses a visual history that is
characterized by totality. The concept of transposing viewers into an
enclosed, illusionary visual space has been revived and expanded in the VR
art of the current age. The more intimately an interface nestles into
viewers' senses, the more intense their immersion will be. Such an
interface weakens the viewers' sense of psychological distance and puts
the relationship between art and consciousness into question. (Into the
Belly of the Image: Historical Aspects of Virtual Reality, Oliver Grau)
New Book: VIRTUAL ART: From Illusion to Immersion' by Oliver Grau
(forthcoming from MIT Press, January 2003)
See below the TOUR DATES, in which Dr. Oliver Grau will be presenting his
book and giving the lecture on the book, "Virtual Art."
Although many people view virtual and mixed realities as a totally new
phenomenon, it has its foundations in an unrecognized history of immersive
images. The search for illusionary visual space can be traced back to
antiquity. Oliver Grau shows how virtual art fits into the art history of
illusion and immersion and shows how each epoch used the technical means
available to produce maximum illusion from Pompeiis Villa dei Misteri via
baroque frescoes, panoramas, immersive cinema to the CAVE. He describes
the metamorphosis of the concepts of art and the image and relates those
concepts to interactive art, interface design, agents, telepresence, and
image evolution. Grau retells art history as media history, helping us to
understand the phenomenon of immersion beyond the hype.
Doing that, Grau draws on the work of contemporary artists like Maurice
Benayoun, Charlotte Davies, Monika Fleischmann, Eduardo Kac, Christa
Sommerer, Michael Naimark, Simon Penny, Daniela Plewe, Jeffrey Shaw et al.
For extra details, please visit the below web site
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=CA3369AD-CACF-445C-93C9-6063445BD225&ttype=2&tid=9214>
About the author: Oliver Grau is lecturer in Art History at Humboldt
University, Berlin, and head of the German Science Foundation's project on
"Immersive Art". He is creating the International Database of Virtual Art
with the aid of the Federal Ministry of Education and Science. Grau is
visiting professor in Linz.
LECTURE TOUR (sponsored by Goethe Institute and various hosts).
---------------------------------------------------------------
San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Monday Dec. 2
The Art, Technology, and Culture Colloquium
160 Kroeber Hall
Curated by Ken Goldberg with ATC Advisory Board
7:30-9:00pm
Stanford University, Tuesday Dec. 3
4:15 pm
Stanford University, Lane History Building 200, Room 307
Los Angeles, UCLA (Department of Design and Media Arts), Wednesday Dec. 4
6 pm 7 pm
Kinross North Bldg. Room 104 EDA
Chicago, School of the Art Institute, Friday Dec. 6
Noon talk from 12-1p.m.
SAIC Auditorium
280 S. Columbus Dr. (Corner of Jackson and Columbus Dr.)
Toronto, Goethe-Institut, Sunday Dec. 8
Goethe-Institut Toronto
11:00 am, New Media
Kind regards,
Arun Tripathi
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