Knowbotic Research is a

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electronic art Electronic art is a form of art that makes use of electronic media. More broadly, it refers to technology and/or electronic media. It is related to information art, new media art, video art, digital art, interactive art, internet art, and elec ...

group, established in 1991. Its members are Yvonne Wilhelm, Christian Hübler and Alexander Tuchacek. They hold a professorship for Art and Media at the University of the Arts in Zurich.

History

Yvonne Wilhelm (born 1962), Christian Huebler (born 1962), Alexander Tuchacek (born 1962) are based in Zurich Switzerland. The Knowbotic Research group has experimented with the intersection of

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...

and

knowledge Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distin ...

interface Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * '' Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics'' * '' Int ...

, immersive virtual reality and networked agency. In their work ''Simulation Mosaik Data Klaenge'' from 1993, they experimented with so called

intelligent agent In artificial intelligence, an intelligent agent (IA) is anything which perceives its environment, takes actions autonomously in order to achieve goals, and may improve its performance with learning or may use knowledge. They may be simple or ...

, applications which can conglomerate diaphanous information by themselves (also called knowbots) and intelligent virtual spaces (flexible information-environments distributed in electronic networks). Knowbotic Research KR+cF has regularly invited people from non-art fields to participate in their projects, such as scientists, philosophers and engineers, depending on the concept of each project. In partnership with the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Knowbotic Research KR+cF has founded ''Membrane'', a laboratory for media strategies, in 1995.

Joseph Nechvatal Joseph Nechvatal (born January 15, 1951) is an American post-conceptual digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom-created computer viruses. Life and work Joseph Ne ...

, ''Immersive Ideals / Critical Distances''. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. 2009, pp. 367-368 In their more recent work, they created media-based projects that try to intervene in the (physical or digital)

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

. Knowbotic is a coinage that combined “knowledge” with “

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...

”, meaning intellectual agent on the Internet. Knowbotic has developed some projects themed on an information environment and a computer interface. Since 1998, it has become more flexible, and with these main three of them, different members from various fields such as art, science, and philosophy, have joined in each program. In 1997, it worked with Japanese art group, Canon Art Lab, in Tokyo. This project aimed at revealing the function of the city by interacting between real and

virtual world A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities ...

Awards

Knowbotic Research has been exhibited widely and has received several prizes, including: * Two

Prix Ars Electronica The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria). ...

Golden Nicas (in 1994 and 1998) * The Claasen Prize for Media Art and Photography, Cologne * The international ZKM Media-art award * The August Seeling-Award of Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum

Footnotes

References

* Oliver Grau, "Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion" MIT-Press, Cambridge 2003 * Christiane Paul, ''Digital Art'', Thames & Hudson Ltd. * Wolf Lieser. ''Digital Art''. Langenscheidt: h.f. ullmann. 2009. *

, ''Immersive Ideals / Critical Distances''. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2009 * Joline Blais and

Jon Ippolito Jon Ippolito is an artist, educator, new media scholar, and former curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Ippolito studied astrophysics and painting in the early 1980s, then pursued Internet art in the 1990s. His works explore digitally indu ...

, ''The Edge of Art'', Thames & Hudson Ltd *

Frank Popper Frank Popper (17 April 1918 – 12 July 2020) was a Czech-born French-British historian of art and technology and Professor Emeritus of Aesthetics and the Science of Art at the University of Paris VIII. He was decorated with the medal of the L ...

, ''From Technological to Virtual Art'', MIT Press * Bruce Wands, ''Art of the Digital Age'', London: Thames & Hudson

External links

Knowbotic Research

Knowbotic Research Show

(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Knowbotic Research Digital artists Postmodern artists German contemporary artists New media artists German installation artists Robotic art Postmodernists German artist groups and collectives Swiss contemporary artists Swiss installation artists