Oliver Grau


Oliver Grau is a German art historian and media theoretician with a focus on image science, modernity and media art as well as culture of the 19th century and Italian art of the Renaissance.

Works

Oliver Grau is Professor of Image Science and Head of the Department for Image Science at the Danube University Krems.
His books include:
He has conducted international invited lecture tours, received numerous awards, and produced international publications in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Serbian, Macedonian, Slovenian, Korean, Chinese. His main research is in the history of media art, immersion, and emotions, as well as the history, idea and culture of telepresence and artificial life.

Immersion research

Grau's book Virtual Art, which belongs with more than 1500 citations to the most quoted art history books since 2000, received more than 70 reviews, offered for the first time a historic comparison in image-viewer theory of immersion as well as a systematic analysis of the triad of artist, work and viewer on conditions of digital art. The research is linked to the novel model of an evolutionary history of illusionistic which results on the one hand from a relative dependence on new sensual potentials of suggestion and on the other hand from the variable strength of alienation of the viewer.
Using an interdisciplinary approach Grau also analysed methods which elicit or heighten the impression of immersion in digital image spaces for the viewer. He found that this is primarily induced by interaction; reaction of the images in real-time to the viewer's movements, the utilisation of evolutionary image processes — for example, genetic algorithms —, haptic feedback, the natural design of the interface, the impression of telematic presence, and particularly the dimensions and design of the image display, which must fill the viewer's field of vision completely and extend up to 360° both horizontally and vertically. These studies sought to transcend customary single media approaches in research on perceptual illusions and to introduce concepts such as polysensuality, suggestive potential, image space, disposition of the individual observer, and evolution of the visual media as well as to expand the theoretical work on distance by Ernst Cassirer and Erwin Panofsky, amongst others. In addition Grau undertook studies of innovative linkages of architecture and immersive moving images, as well as of immersion in the history of film. The majority of these publications resulted from two research projects of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft : Art History and Media Theories of Virtual Reality, 1998–2002, and Immersive Art, 2002–2005.

Emotion research

Several research projects conducted at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the German Academyof Sciences Leopoldina and two summer academies supported by the Volkswagen Foundation gave rise to an interdisciplinary study on the history of managing feelings through images and sound. Building on the work of Antonio Damasio, Joseph LeDoux, and Wolf Singer, and using the examples of Matthias Grünewald's Isenheimer Altarpiece, Leni Riefenstahl's film Triumph of the Will, and the computer game “America’s Army”, it was demonstrated how emotional experiences with images can forge a sense of community; in this way a contribution was made to research on a problematic key concept of image science.

Media Art Histories and Image Science

Since 2002 Grau has initiated interdisciplinary meetings and world conferences of scholars working on media art and its history ; the first conference on the history of media art was held in Banff, Canada, in 2005. Further conferences were organised in Berlin, Melbourne, Liverpool, Riga, Montreal, Krems, Göttweig Abbey and Vienna, the series continues with a conference in Aalborg in 2019. His volume "Imagery in the 21st Century", MIT-Press 2011 expanded the context of Image Science.
In 2018 Grau was a speaker at the Chicago New Media Symposium which was held as part of the Chicago New Media 1973-1992 Exhibition. The Exhibition was curated by jonCates.

Digital Humanities / Image Science

Grau conceived new scientific tools for image science and directed the project "Immersive Art" of the German Research Foundation developing the first international Archive for Digital Art, which is being continued at the Danube University Krems as an open source project. ADA is the first online archive that, since 2000, has regularly streamed video documentations. Since 2005 Grau also manages the database of the Graphic Art Collection of Göttweig Abbey, the largest private graphic collection in Austria, which contains over 30,000 works, from Albrecht Dürer to Gustav Klimt, and is accessible online since 2007.
Grau has conceived new scientific tools for the humanities/digital humanities, he managed the project "Immersive Art" of The German Research Foundation whose team started developing in 1998 the first international archive for digital art written on an open source platform at the Danube-University Krems and has since been followed up by a number of spin-off projects. Since 2000 the DVA was the first online archive to regularly stream video documentations. Since 2005 Grau is head of the database of Goettweigs Graphic Collection, Austria's largest private graphic collection that contains 30,000 works, ranging from Albrecht Dürer to Gustav Klimt.

Teaching

Grau developed new international curricula for image sciences: MediaArtHistories MA, academic expert programmes in Digital Collection Management and Exhibit Design, Visual Competencies and the masters course in Image Science. Moreover, with the Danube Telelectures a new interactive format of lectures and debates came into being that is streamed worldwide.
After his studies in Hamburg, Siena and Berlin and his doctoral work, Grau lectured at the Humboldt University Berlin, was a guest researcher in several research labs in Japan and USA and following his post doctoral lecture qualification in 2003, he worked as professor at different international universities. He has acted as adviser for international professional journals and different associations. Grau manages different conferences. Since 2002 Grau tried to bring together the research on media art and its history which is dispersed over many fields and therefore was founding director of Refresh! First International Conference on the History of Media Art, Science and Technology, Banff 2005. O. Grau: MediaArtHistories, MIT-Press 2007 and the online text archive mediaarthistory.org result from the world conference series.

Awards and distinctions

Awards among other things: 2001 voted into Young Academy of the Berlin-Brandenburgischen Scientific Academy and the Leopoldina; 2002 InterNations/Goethe Institute; 2003 Book of the Month, Scientific American; 2003 Research Scholarship from the German-Italian Center Villa Vigoni; 2004 Media Award of the Humboldt University Society. 2014 he received an honorary doctorate and in 2015 he was elected into the Academia Europaea.

writings (monographs)