Maciej Wisniewski – Art bio

Bio: Maciej Wisniewski, Chief Scientist/ Founder, netomat, Inc.

Maciej Wisniewski is an internationally respected digital artist, programmer and pioneer in network computing, whose work focuses on the underlying social impact of technology and networks.

Maciej conceived and created netomat as a network-based art project. The project introduced a more open, free-form and flexible alternative to traditional page-based HTML browsers and search engines. It launched at Postmasters Gallery in New York City and was downloaded by close to a million people in 80 countries.

Maciej then launched netomat, Inc. in January 2001 with partners Tamas Banovich, curator and co-owner of Postmasters, Alan Gershenfeld and Kris Ramanathan (two software veterans) to realize the full vision of the netomat art project. Together, they are developing a powerful, new multimedia communication platform for consumers and businesses and building a creative, innovative, profitable and responsible software company.

In addition to creating the netomat software, Maciej also created nml (netomatic markup language), a revolutionary new XML-based language that is at the core of the netomat multimedia communication platform. Maciej is currently netomat’s Chief Scientist and Chief Artist, responsible for all new research and development as well as for providing the creative vision for the company. Maciej’s current work includes extending the reach of the netomat platform to networked devices such as cell phones, PDAs and set-top boxes.

Prior to launching netomat, Maciej worked as an Advanced Programmer at IBM.com (formerly known as the IBM Corporate Internet Programs) where he was responsible for developing IBM.com’s XML strategy and has developed numerous advanced web prototype applications. He was originally recruited by IBM in 1998 on the basis of his art projects.

While at IBM, Maciej also co-authored a chapter for the XML Handbook by Charles Goldfarb, the creator of SGML.

Prior to joining IBM, Maciej had been responsible for the creation of many high profile digital art projects which featured the synthesis of powerful, cutting-edge technology, forward thinking ideas and engrossing presentations. These projects have been exhibited in prestigious galleries around the world. He has been featured and reviewed in well-known newspapers, magazines and journals worldwide, has participated as an expert on technology, new media and art panels, and has been invited to speak as a guest lecturer at several educational institutions. His educational background plus a summary of these exhibits, panels, publications is listed below.

EDUCATION

1989 M.F.A., Hunter College, New York, NY
1987 Ph.D. program at the Institute for General Linguistics and Computational Linguistics, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
1984 M.A. in Scandinavian Languages and Culture, University of Gdansk, Poland and University of Stockholm, Sweden

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2003

  • Future Cinema, Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
  • Vectors: Digital Art of Our Time, World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery, New York, NY
  • Critical Conditions, Curated by Timothy Druckery, Wood Street Galleries, Pittsburgh, PA
  • PCForum, Phoenix, Arizona

2002

  • Future Cinema, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
  • BananaRAM net.art festival, Ancona, Italy
  • Codedoc September, http://whitney.org/artport/, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
  • Joy & Revolution, Postmasters Gallery, New York, NY
  • Shine shine2.org Creativity>Action >Freedom “Streaming Conscience “online project for the 40th anniversary of Amnesty International, February
  • 3 seconds in the memory of the internet and netomatheque, Postmasters Gallery, New York, NY

2001

  • Festival de creacion audiovisual de Navarra, net.art, Spain
  • EVO 1, Curated by Christiane Paul, Gallery L, Moscow, Russia
  • Media Connection, Rome, Italy
  • net.ephemera, Curated by Mark Tribe, Moving Image Gallery, New York, NY
  • Game Show, Curated by Laura Steward Heon, Mass MOCA, North Adams, MA
  • Data Dynamics, Curated by Christiane Paul, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
  • Telematic Connections; the Virtual Embrace, Curated by Steve Deitz, ICI traveling exhibition, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA; Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery, Art Center Collage of Design, Pasadena, CA; Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX (all 2001); Atlanta College of Art and Design, Atlanta GA (2002); Oklahoma City Art Museum, Oklahoma City, OK (2002)
  • Subverting The Market: Artwork on the Web, Curated by Julia Morrisroe, University Art Gallery, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI

2000

  • net_condition; art and global media, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany

1999

  • Digital Documentary; Curated by Steve Dietz, www.partsphoto.org/digidoc/dataintro.html
  • netomat, Postmasters Gallery, New York, NY
  • Net.works Three; Curated by Thompson-Craighead, New Media Centre at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK in partnership with Sun Microsystems

1998

  • Speaking Digital: The Space Between Speaking Digital Series, Guggenheim Museum Soho, New York, NY, www.guggenheim.org
  • Net.works One; Curated by Benjamin Weil, New Media Centre at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK
  • The Shock of the View, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, organized by the Walker Art Center with the Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, San Jose Museum of Art, the Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University and Rhizome
  • ScanLink, Omnizone; Curated by Yu Yeon Kim and Stephen Pusey, www.plexus.org
  • Turnstile II, stadium/DIA
  • Turnstile Part I, Silverstein Gallery, New York, NY
  • Rhizome, http://www.rhizome.org/splash/maciej

1997

  • Jackpot, Johannesburg Biennale, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Jackpot, ada’web

1996

 

  • Good Luck, Postmasters Gallery, New York, NY
  • Tele-Touch, “Walk on the Soho Side”, Curator Marc Pottier, New York, NY
  • Tele-Touch, Postmasters Gallery, The Gramercy International Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY
  • Tele-Touch, ada’web

 

1995

  • Travelers Guide, Max Fish, New York, NY and the WWW
  • Four Rooms, Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, NY

1993

  • The Joke Show, Four Walls, Brooklyn, NY

1992

  • Toll Free, Curator, Stadtlengsfeld Castle, Germany

1989

  • The International Project, Caja Rural de Toledo, Toledo, Spain; Novart Gallery, Madrid, Spain; Thomas Hunter Gallery, New York, NY, MFA exhibition, Ruine Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland; Embargo Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden

PANELS & GUEST LECTURES

  • “Maciej Wisniewski & Miltos Manetas, Series organized by Yael Kanarek, Eyebeam, New York, NY, May 2003
  • “The Artist As Programmer”, NY Digital Salon, MOMA Film at The Gramercy Theater, New York, NY, April 2003
  • Guest Lecturer, Parsons Center For New Design, New York, NY, March 2003
  • Guest Lecturer, Fine Arts & New Media, Royal University of Fine Arts, Stockholm, Sweden, September 2002
  • Panel, Thundergulch, LMCC, Sony Technology Lab, New York, NY, May 2002
  • “A Panel Discussion: On The Presentation of Online Art In Physical Space”, Tribes Gallery, New York, NY, January 2001
  • “Alternative Networks: Netomat & Glasbead”, Parsons Center For New Design, New York, NY, November 2000

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • “Critical Conditions: Information Atmospheres and Event Scenes”, catalogue, Wood Street Galleries, May 2003
  • Carly Berwick, “Art Talk”, Artnews, April 2003
  • Leonardo, Tenth Anniversary New York Digital Salon, Vectors: Digital Art of Our Time, MIT Press, November 5, 2002
  • Mike Martin, “New Markup Language Challenges Rich Media Leaders”, NewsFactor.com, NewsFactor Sci-Tech News, October 2002
  • Robert Mahoney, “Joy and Revolution Review”, Time Out New York, July 4-11,2002
  • Hotlist, Artforum, May 2002
  • Kate Kaye, “Tuesday Stroll: Digital Relations”, Emerging Interest.com, April 4, 2002
  • Margaret Sundell, “Maciej Wisniewski,” review, Artforum, March 2002
  • Media Connection, catalogue and CD Rom, Printed in Italy
  • Festival de creacion audiovisual de Navarra, catalogue, Printed in Spain
  • Brian Morrissey, “Netomat Looks to Break Barriers”, Silicon Alley Daily.com, Around The Alley In 30 Days, July 23,2001
  • Susan Delson, “If Picasso Were A Programmer”, Forbes.com, June 25,2001
  • Guiseppe Laurenza, “Navegar contra la corriente”, punto.net, June 2,2001
  • Mark Stevens, “Geek Art,” New York Magazine, April 2, 2001
  • Cristine Wang, “Digital Art Takes a Giant Leap…..,” NY Arts Magazine, April 2001
  • Michael Kimmelman, “Creativity, Digitally Remastered,” The New York Times, March 23, 2001
  • Matthew Mirapaul, “Arts Online: Ok, It’s Art. But Do you view it at Home or in Public?”,The New York Times, March 19, 2001
  • Game Show, catalogue, MASS MoCA Publications, Spring 2001
  • A.S. “Future Perfect: Netomat Browser,” URB Magazine, March 2001
  • Subverting The Market: Artwork on the Web, catalogue, University Art Gallery, Central Michigan University
  • Peter Weibel and Timothy Druckrey (editors), “net_condition; art and global media,” ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe and MIT Press, 2000
  • Jeff Howe, “Artistic License; Creating a Space for Net Art,” The Village Voice, July 13, 1999
  • Reena Jana, “Netomat: The Non-Linear Browser,” Wired News, June 30, 1999
  • Martin Stone, “Digital Artist Designs Alternative Browser,” Newsbytes News Network newsbytes.com, June 25, 1999
  • Matthew Mirapaul, “No Clicking Allowed in Artist’s Browser,” Arts at Large, The New York Times on the Web/Cybertimes, June 24, 1999
  • Tilman Baumgärtel, Die New York School der Programmiere www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/inhalt/sa/3341/1.html
  • Ron Wakkary, Vexations and Doom: Serious Mobility. Maciej Wisniewski: Turnstile
  • Jon Ippolito, Speaking Digital: Maciej Wisniewski, The Space Between
  • Robbin Murphy, Everything in the World We Need, Walker Art Shock of the View
  • Sheldon Brown, The proliferation of media technologies…, Walker Art Shock of the View
  • Ken Goldberg, Walker Art Shock of the Viewl
  • Paul Brown, Greg Lynn & Maciej Wisniewski Walker Art Shock of the View
  • Diane Mullin, Grids Walker Art Shock of the View
  • Peter Hall, Jackpot, I.D. Magazine, May 1998
  • Hans Dieter Huber Browser, Buffer and Bitslag. Kunstgeschichte im Internet, September 1997
  • Art Quote, The Village Voice, May 1995
  • Kein Unterschied zu Kassel…, Südthüringer Zeitung, August 1992
  • Kunst-Zauber über Stadtlengsfeld, Freies Wort, August 1992
  • Ralph Pasch, Kunst nicht in New York sondern in Stadtlengsfeld, Südthüringer Zeitung, August 1992
  • Susanne Möller, Porzellan-Tor zum Osten, Freies Wort, August 1992
  • Critica de Arte, October 1989
  • Tiempo, September 1989
  • Javier Rubio, Madrid escaparate del arte internacional, ABC de las Artes, September 1989
  • Gunnel Svenningson, Galleri som Konst, Dagens Nyheter, Runt Stan, 1989
  • Cecilia Stam, Kontinental konstatmosfär, Svenska Dagbladet, August 1988