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<P><FONT face=Arial>VIRTUAL ART: From Illusion to Immersion' <BR>by
Oliver Grau <BR><BR>(forthcoming from MIT Press)<BR><BR><BR>See TOUR DATES
below</FONT></P>
<P> </P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Arial>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.</FONT></P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Arial>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.</FONT></P>
<P> </P>
<P align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2>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.</FONT></P>
<P> </P>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><STRONG>LECTURE TOUR (sponsored by Goethe Institute and
various hosts).</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><U><STRONG>San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Monday Dec.
2</STRONG></U></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><I><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Art, Technology, and Culture
Colloquium</FONT></DIV></I>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>160 Kroeber Hall</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Curated by Ken Goldberg with ATC Advisory
Board</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>7:30-9:00pm</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><U><STRONG>Stanford University, Tuesday Dec.
3</STRONG></U></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>4:15 pm </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stanford University, Lane History Building 200,
Room 307</FONT><FONT face=Arial><BR> </DIV></FONT><FONT size=2></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><U><STRONG>Los Angeles, UCLA (Department of Design
and Media Arts), Wednesday Dec. 4</STRONG></U></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>6 pm – 7 pm</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kinross North Bldg. Room 104 – EDA</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><U><STRONG>Chicago, School of the Art Institute,
Friday Dec. 6</STRONG></U></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Noon talk from 12-1p.m.</FONT><FONT
size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>SAIC Auditorium</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>280 S. Columbus Dr. (Corner of Jackson and Columbus
Dr.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><U><STRONG>Toronto, Goethe-Institut, Sunday Dec.
8</STRONG></U></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Goethe-Institut Toronto</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>11:00 am, New Media ‚Frühstück’</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>163 King St. W.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><U><STRONG>Ann Arbor, UMICH/School of Art and
Design, Monday Dec. 9</STRONG></U></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Art & Architecture Building, 5:15
p.m.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>North Campus, Bonisteel Boulevard</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><U><STRONG>New York, Parsons School of Design,
Tuesday Dec. 10</STRONG></U></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Parsons School of Design, Tishman
Auditorium</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>66 West 12th Street, 7 p.m.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>Moderated by Christiane Paul, the Whitney's
adjunct curator of new media arts.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>(For more information: <A
href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=26570CB6-AB47-414B-A780-1ECA08AAB2D3&ttype=2&tid=9214">http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=26570CB6-AB47-414B-A780-1ECA08AAB2D3&ttype=2&tid=9214</A>)</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>