Fri, 06.05.2022 - Sun, 31.07.2022

Exhibition »Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau. The Artwork as a Living System.«

Christa Sommerer, Laurent Mignonneau - The Interactive Plant Growing - 1993, © ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, photo: Franz J. Wamhof

In media art, Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau are regarded as pioneers of the “Art of Interface.” The Austrian-French artists were working with algorithms already in the early 1990s and understood artworks as living systems. The ZKM is now dedicating a retrospective to them: The Artwork as a Living System.

For the first time in Germany, The Artwork as a Living System exhibition provides a retrospective overview of the oeuvre of Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau since the early 1990s. They are regarded as pioneers of the “Art of Interface,” where innovative technical interfaces enable physical interaction between simulated visual worlds and the analog world. The Austrian-French artist duo, who have been closely associated with the ZKM for decades, are among the first artists to use algorithms in art to represent living forms, evolution, and growth. Their works, which have long since become classics of digital art, open up a new horizon in which artworks behave like living systems.

Documents

text_karin_ohlenschlaeger.pdf (255.01 KB)

list_of_credits_the_artwork_as_a_living_system.pdf (1.7 MB)

Press Release

20220422_pm_eng_sommerermignonneau.pdf (631.01 KB)

Image - Gallery

Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau, Interactive Installation 1995/2021 © ZKM | Centaer for Art and MediaKarlsruhe, photo: Jonas Zilius
Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau,» Interactive Plant Growing«,1993 © ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, photo: Franz J. Wamhof