Media-Art-Technology: From Bauhaus to MIT

At the Bauhaus, concepts for Neues Sehen (new vision) were tested in light, film and media experiments. Even after the school closed, Bauhäusler continued this experimental artistic exploration of perceptual devices in the United States – sometimes commissioned by industry, government and the military. For instance, László Moholy-Nagy became the director of the New Bauhaus in Chicago and his associate György Kepes later founded the Center of Advanced Visual Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Muriel Cooper, Art Director at MIT Press, transferred Bauhaus design principles to the digital realm. But the media experiments of the Bauhaus also echoed in the counter-culture and in Pop Art, such as the works of Stan VanDerBeek, Nam June Paik and Andy Warhol. A guided tour through the fourth exhibition chapter Still Undead, seen at HKW for the first time.

Christian Hiller is a curator, media scientist and editor of ARCH+ Magazin für Architektur und Urbanismus. He co-curated the exhibitions Bauhaus in Aktion, bauhaus.film and Mensch Raum Maschine – Bühnenexperimente for the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation at the Bauhaus. He edited several publications about the Bauhaus, was the co-editor of the Edition Bauhaus DVD series and organized festivals, symposia and workshops dealing with the political and social dimensions of the Bauhaus. He is part of the curatorial teams of projekt bauhaus and bauhaus imaginista.