Home of the Brain - VR installation (1989-90) by Monika Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss, ART+COM
Channel: Monika Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss
Date: 2019-10-08

This video from 1992 is about "Home of the Brain" (1989-90), the first-ever artistic immersive VR work with a data helmet and data glove. The installation was presented in test phases starting with networked computers between Berlin (Art+Com e.V.) and Geneva (Telecom) (1990). “Home of the Brain” was awarded the Golden Nica of the Prix Ars Electronica (1992).
"Home of the Brain" (1989-90) by Fleischmann & Strauss not only reflects a medium that was new at the time but also the media discourse itself is exhibited here as a philosophical debate. Vilém Flusser talks about "Vernetzungsstruktur" (Networking Structure) (1990), and Paul Virilio about "L'Espace Vitesse" (Geschwindigkeitsraum / space velocity) (1989). Joseph Weizenbaum is clear that "this holding of the hand has a meaning for man, but not at all for the mechanical hand" („dieses Halten der Hand hat für den Menschen eine Bedeutung, aber für die mechanische Hand überhaupt keine“ (1976), while Marvin Minsky states that "it's a waste of time to learn things over again when other people have those structures" (1980). The interactive installation "Home of the Brain" invites you to explore a world of networked knowledge in a new world order.
Monika Fleischmann & Wolfgang Strauss. Berlin, 8th October 2019
The artistic production Home of the Brain was developed at Raumlabor of Art+Com, directed by Fleischmann & Strauss, and supported by Deutsche Telekom/Berkom. Art+Com e.V. cooperators: Edouard Bannwart, Dirk Lüsebrink, Uli Weinberg, Gavin Hodge, Hendrik Tramberend, Josef Speier, Achim Gothe.