Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Laurent Mignonneau and Christa Sommerer are internationally renowned media artists, researchers and pioneers of interactive art.

Laurent Mignonneau studied video art at the Academy of Fine Arts Angouleme, France. Sommerer studied botany and anthropology at the University of Vienna and sculpture at the University of Fine Arts Vienna, and Christa Sommerer studied botany and anthropology at the University of Vienna, then sculpture at the University of Fine Arts in Vienna. They met at the Institute for Media run by media pioneer Peter Weibel in 1991. After an artist-in-residency at the National Center for Supercomputing Application (NCSA), Beckman Institute in Urbana, IL USA, and at the Inter Communication Center (NTT-ICC) in Tokyo, Japan, they worked as researchers at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Laboratories (ATR) in Kyoto and at the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS) in Ogaki, Japan. They studied at CAiiA-STAR at University of Wales College of Art, UK (with Prof. Roy Ascott) and at Kobe University, Japan.

Currently, Mignonneau & Sommerer are professors and heads of the department for Interface Cultures at the University of Art and Design in Linz, Austria.

Their collaboration has led them to create 20 interactive artworks, thanks to which they have received numerous awards, including: - Wu Guanzhong Art and Science Innovation Prize (for «Escape») awarded by Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China (2012) - the Golden Nica Prize, Ars Electronica - the Ovation Award, Interactive Media Festival, Los Angeles - the Multi Media Award’95 of the Multimedia Association, Japan - Finalist, World Technology Award, The Arts of the World Technology Network, UK - PRIZE 2008 - uni:invent Award, Ministry of Science and Research, Austria

Their artworks have been shown in around 200 international exhibitions and are part of museums and collections around the world : Hermès, Paris, France; The View Contemporary Art Space, Salenstein, Switzerland; Braunschweig “City of Science 2007”, Braunschweig, Germany; Itau Cultural Collection, Sao Paulo, Brasil; Medien Museum of the ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany; Cite des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Paris, France; Bo01 - City of Tomorrow, Malmoe, Sweden; City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia, Spain; Miramon, Museum of Science and Technology, San Sebastian, Spain; Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria; Martin Gropius Bau Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Millennium Dome London, London, England; Cartier Foundation, Paris, France; Shiseido, Tokyo, Japan; Medien Museum of the ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany; InterCommunication Museum - ICC-NTT Japan, Tokyo, Japan; Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan; Musee d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, France; Shiroishi Multimedia Art Center, Shiroishi, Japan; Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria; NTT Tokei - NHK, Nagoya, Japan.

Their interactive art installations have been called a symbol of the times, ("epoch making" by Toshiharu Itoh, NTT-ICC museum Tokyo) for developing natural and intuitive interfaces, and applying scientific principles such as artificial intelligence, complexity and generative systems to the innovative interfaces that they have developed.

> Web site of the artist

News

Editions

Press

Press Release & Details

Scavengers

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Video
1/5 + 2AP
2020

Apis Humane

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Polaroid
Unique
2022

ANTopolis

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Video
Ed 1/5 + 2 AP
2021

Scavengers

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Video
Ed. 1/5 + 2AP
2020

ANTopolis

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Video
Ed. 1/5 + 2AP
2022

To Bee

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Video
Ed. 1/5 + 2AP
2021

Homo Insectus

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive Installation
Ed. 2/5 + 2AP
2020

Gastein Sketches

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Drawing
Ed. 1/5 + 1AP
21 x 30 cm
2022

Apis Humane

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive Installation
2/5
2023

Interview with Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Watch artist duo Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau speak about their interactive media façade ANTopolis, shown in Linz, Austria in 2020.

Neuro Mirror

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Portraits in interaction
Interactive work on tv screen
8 copies + 2 AP
Variable dimension
2017

Portrait on the fly

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive installation
8 copies + 2 AP
2016

Portrait on the fly

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive work on tv screen
Portraits in interaction
6/8 + 2 AP
2016

People on the fly

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer
Interactive installation
In situ
Variable dimensions
2016

People on the fly

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Exhibition view
2016

People on the fly

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Exhibition view Ars Electronica 2017
Interactive installation
Variable dimensions
2016

Appareil photo

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer
Video installation
Unique piece in a series
22 x 22 x 15 cm
2016

Fly simulator

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer
Video installation
1/3 + 1 AP
25 x 44 x 18 cm
2016

Fly simulator

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

by Laurent Mingnonneau & Christa Sommerer
Video installation
1/3 + 1 AP
25 x 44 x 18 cm
2016

The Big Fly

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer
Print on paper with silicone
Unique piece
50 x 40 x 5 cm
2016

House Fly 1

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

by Laurent Mingnonneau & Christa Sommerer
Print on paper with silicone
Unique piece
39 x 26 x 5 cm
2016

House fly 2

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer
Print on paper with silicone
Unique Piece
39 x 26 x 5 cm
2016

House fly 3

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer
Print on paper with silicone
Unique Piece
39 x 26 x 5 cm
2016

Plotter drawing

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Unique piece
30 x 30 cm
2015

Fly high Time flies

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Plotter Drawing
Unique piece
30 x 30 cm
2016

High

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer
Print on paper with silicone
Unique piece
18 x 15 x 6 cm
2016

Lonely Fly

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer
Unique piece
2016

Solar fly

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive work
12 x 12 x 6 cm
2016

Escape

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive installation
Film projector and screen, video projector, specific software
Unique piece
2012

Escape

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive installation
Film projector and screen, video projector, specific software
Unique piece
2012

Escape

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Installation interactive, magic lantern, specific software
Unique piece
2012

Excavate

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Installation interactive, magic lantern, specific software
Unique piece
2012

Life Writer

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Generative interactive installation
Typewriter, table, specific program, computer, video-projector
2006

Life Writer

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Generative interactive installation
Typewriter, table, specific program, computer, video-projector
2006

Eau de Jardin

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive installation
Amphorae, videoprojector, computer, specific program
2004

Eau de Jardin

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive installation
Amphorae, videoprojector, computer, specific program
2004

Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer Interview

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

2014

The Value of Art (Unruhige See)

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive installation
Painting, specific program, thermal printer, motion sensor
Pièce Unique
76 x 92 cm
2010

The Value of Art

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive installation
Interactive installation, painting, specific program, thermal printer
Unique piece
2010

The value of art (Cat)

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Painting, thermic print, paper, motion sensor
Unique piece
2010

The value of art (WildBoards)

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Painting, thermic print, paper, motion sensor
Unique piece
2010

The value of art (Lady)

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Painting, thermic print, paper, motion sensor
Unique piece
2010

The value of art (Arnulf Rainer)

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Painting, thermic print, paper, motion sensor
Unique piece
2010

Phototropy

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Installation interactive
1994

Phototropy

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Installation interactive
1994

"Egometer"

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive work
Unique piece
2017

Magic Eye-Dissolving Borders

by Laurent Mignonneau & Christa Sommerer

Interactive sound work
Vintage radio and electronics
2010