Hugo Heyrman
Hugo Heyrman (born December 20, 1942) known by his artist name Dr. Hugo Heyrman, is a leading Belgian painter, filmmaker, internet pioneer, synesthesia and new media researcher. Early life and education. Dr. Hugo Heyrman was born in Zwijndrecht, he lives and works in Antwerp. Originally, Heyrman opted for a musical education, but transferred to the visual arts. He graduated from the Royal Academy and became a laureate of the National Higher Institute for Fine Arts in Antwerp. In addition, he studied nuclear physics during one year at the State Higher Institute for Nuclear Energy in Mol. He received  a Ph.D. in art sciences, magna cum laude, from the Universidad de La Laguna, in Tenerife with a thesis on "Art & Computers: an exploratory investigation on the digital transformation of art". Career. From his earliest work, Heyrman developed a specific vision on the nature of perception. "Most of my work has to do with contemporary fragility. The works are 'ways of seeing', forms of visual thinking, they make the virtual and mental space of an image real", he declares in his website. His art practice includes painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video, film and digital media. In his website 'Museums of  the Mind' he continues to publish his research, theory and experiments on the telematic future of art, the senses and synaesthesia. During the sixties, Heyrman profiled himself as an avant-garde artist with happenings, film- and video experiments. Online since 1995, Heyrman became one of the pioneers in Net.art. He also participated in 1988 at the 'First International Symposium on Electronic Art' (FISEA) in Utrecht. In 1995, Heyrman coined the terms "tele-synaesthesia" and "post-ego". Since 1993 he is a working member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, Brussels. As of 2006 he  was a professor at the Royal Academy for Fine Arts, Antwerp.