Wolfgang Staehle
Encyclopedia
Wolfgang Staehle is an early pioneer
of net.art
in the United States
, known for his video streaming of the collapse of the World Trade Center
in New York
on September 11, 2001.
and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree from the School of Visual Arts
.
degree, he worked as a video artist, and in 1991, he founded The Thing
. The Thing was an Internet forum
for new media art
.
It started out as an independent media project that began as a bulletin board system
(BBS) that later became an online forum for artists and cultural theorists to exchange ideas. By the late 1990s, The Thing grew into a successful online community and began hosting artists' websites. It also includes a mailing list and was the first Website
devoted to net.art
, bbs.thing.net.
In 1996, he started his series of live online video streams. His first series is called Empire 24/7 where he documented the Empire State Building
in New York City
. He documented it by setting up a digital still camera at The Thing’s office located in New York’s West Chelsea neighborhood. Every four seconds, the camera took a picture of the building and the images were sent and projected in a gallery at the ZKM Center for Art and Media Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany. This project was a reference to Andy Warhol
’s 1964 film Empire
which was a silent, eight-hour-long black-and-white film in which the camera focused on the Empire State Building
from dusk until dawn.
Staehle has continued working on his series of live online video streams of other buildings, landscapes and cityscapes such as the Fernsehturm in Berlin, the Comburg
Monastery in Germany, and a Yanomami village in the Brazilian rainforest. Staehle currently serves as the Executive Director of The Thing and is represented by the Postmasters Gallery
in New York
.
1988
1989
1990
1991
1993
1996
2000
2001
2004
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Innovator
An innovator in a general sense, is a person or an organization who is one of the first to introduce into reality something better than before. That often opens up a new area for others and achieves an innovation.-History:...
of net.art
Net.art
"net.art" refers to a group of artists who worked in the medium of Internet art from 1994. The main members of this movement are Vuk Ćosić, Jodi.org, Alexei Shulgin, Olia Lialina, and Heath Bunting...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, known for his video streaming of the collapse of the World Trade Center
Collapse of the World Trade Center
The twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, as a result of al-Qaeda's September 11 attacks, in which terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners, flying one into the North Tower and another into the South Tower...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on September 11, 2001.
Education
Wolfgang Staehle was born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1950 and gained his first set of studies at the Freie Kunstschule in Stuttgart, Germany. In 1976, he moved to New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
degree from the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
.
Life and work
After getting his Bachelor of Fine ArtsBachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
degree, he worked as a video artist, and in 1991, he founded The Thing
The Thing (art project)
The Thing is an international net-community of artists and art-related projects that was started in 1991 by Wolfgang Staehle. The Thing was launched as a mailbox system accessible over the telephone network in New York feeding a Bulletin Board System in 1991 before their website was launched in...
. The Thing was an Internet forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
for new media art
New media art
New media art is a genre that encompasses artworks created with new media technologies, including digital art, computer graphics, computer animation, virtual art, Internet art, interactive art, computer robotics, and art as biotechnology...
.
It started out as an independent media project that began as a bulletin board system
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
(BBS) that later became an online forum for artists and cultural theorists to exchange ideas. By the late 1990s, The Thing grew into a successful online community and began hosting artists' websites. It also includes a mailing list and was the first Website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
devoted to net.art
Net.art
"net.art" refers to a group of artists who worked in the medium of Internet art from 1994. The main members of this movement are Vuk Ćosić, Jodi.org, Alexei Shulgin, Olia Lialina, and Heath Bunting...
, bbs.thing.net.
In 1996, he started his series of live online video streams. His first series is called Empire 24/7 where he documented the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He documented it by setting up a digital still camera at The Thing’s office located in New York’s West Chelsea neighborhood. Every four seconds, the camera took a picture of the building and the images were sent and projected in a gallery at the ZKM Center for Art and Media Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany. This project was a reference to Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
’s 1964 film Empire
Empire (1964 film)
Empire is a silent, black-and-white film made by Andy Warhol. It consists of eight hours and five minutes of continuous slow motion footage of the Empire State Building in New York City. Abridged showings of the film were never allowed, and supposedly the very unwatchability of the film was an...
which was a silent, eight-hour-long black-and-white film in which the camera focused on the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
from dusk until dawn.
Staehle has continued working on his series of live online video streams of other buildings, landscapes and cityscapes such as the Fernsehturm in Berlin, the Comburg
Comburg
Comburg was a Benedictine monastery near Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.It was founded in the late 1070s by the Counts of Comburg-Rothenburg on the site of their castle. They retained the office of Vogt, which continued until their extinction in the Staufer dynasty...
Monastery in Germany, and a Yanomami village in the Brazilian rainforest. Staehle currently serves as the Executive Director of The Thing and is represented by the Postmasters Gallery
Postmasters (art gallery)
Postmasters is a contemporary art gallery located on 19th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan owned and directed by Magda Sawon and Tamas Banovich...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Notable projects
- Empire 24/7 (1999–2004)
- Untitled (2001)
- Fernsehturm (2001–Present)
- Comburg (2001–Present)
- Yano a (2002)
Solo exhibitions
1987- Daniel Newburg Gallery, New York
1988
- T'Venster Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- "Requiem," The New Museum, New York
- Daniel Newburg Gallery, New York
1989
- Galerie Sylvana Lorenz, Paris, France
- The Kitchen, New York
- Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
1990
- Marimura Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
- Galleri Wallner, Malmo, Sweden
- Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
- Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- Daniel Buchholz Gallery, Cologne, Germany
- Koury Wingate Gallery, New York
1991
- Massimo De Carlo Gallery, Milan, Italy
1993
- "Point de Mire," Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
1996
- "Installations Video," Art & Public, Geneva, Switzerland
2000
- Kunstverein Schwaebisch Hall, Germany
2001
- Postmasters Gallery, New York City
2004
- Postmasters Gallery, New York City
Group exhibitions
2001- "Tele[Visions]"
- "Media Connection"
2002
- "Unknown Quantity," Foundation Cartier pour L'Art Contemporian, Paris
- "Monitor 2," Gagosian Chelsea, New York
- "EMPIRE/STATE," Whitney Museum of American Art, Independent Study Program Exhibition at the Art Gallery of The Graduate Center, The City University of New York
- "Outside the Box, " University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, Florida
- "Transmediale.02
2003
- "Yanomami," Foundation Cartier pour L'Art Contemporain, Paris
- "Critical Conditions," Wood Street Galleries, Pittsburgh, PA
- "Slowness," Dorsky Curational Projects, Queens, NY
2004
- "Times Zones," Tate Modern, London
- "Midtown," real-time public video projection, Lumen, Leeds, Great Britain
- "The Passage of Mirage," Chelsea Art Museum, New York
2005
- "The Forest," Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, NC
- "re:site motereal," Oboro, Montreal
- "Vom Verschwinden," HMKV, Phoenix Halle, Dortmund
- "Photography's Expanded Field," Preus Museum, Horten, Norway
- "Video Sculpture in Germany," Apeejay Media Gallery, New Delhi
2006
- "Slow Life," John Hansard Gallery, Southhampton, Great Britain
- "Dark Places," Santa Monica Museum of Art
2007
- "Closed Circuit: Video and New Media at the Metropolitan," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York