Jeff Mann (Hamilton, Canada, 1963) is a creator of electric art, using computers, electronics, robotics, sound, video, and telecommunications media. Since the mid-1980's, his work in online artists networks, telepresence performance, and interactive installation, has presaged some of the most exciting trends in new media art today. From 1987-2002 he was one of the primary forces behind InterAccess, now recognized as among the top electronic media art centres in Canada, and in 1996 he founded Toronto's Art & Robotics Group. Since 2003 he has been based mainly in Europe, and currently lives in Berlin. Mann's work has been exhibited in Canada, the USA, the Netherlands, Australia, Spain, Belgium, Germany, and Korea. He has received numerous grants, commissions and residencies for his work, and in 2005 was awarded second prize in the VIDA 8.0 Art & Artificial Life International Competetion, together with collaborator Michelle Teran. Mann has also worked as a teacher at the Ontario College of Art and at Ryerson University, and as a freelance consultant and collaborator with many leading new media artists and institutions in Canada and Europe.
Exhibitions include LiveForm:Telekinetics, InterAccess, Toronto; Waag Society, Amsterdam; BEAP, Perth; ARCO, Madrid; Vooruit, Ghent; and the 4th Seoul International Media Art Biennale (2002-2006); Machine Life, Agnes Etherington Art Gallery, Kingston (2004); Hotwired Live Art 2, the Banff Centre for the Arts (2001); The Nature of the Machine, Cambridge Galleries (1999); SpaceProbe, InterAccess (1997); Electric Skin, Gallery 401, Toronto (1995); and TV FreeNet, The Western Front, Vancouver (1994).
Education:
1987 AOCA Honours Diploma in Photo/Electric Arts, Ontario College of Art, Toronto
1984 Certificate in Media Arts, Sheridan College, Oakville.
Teaching Experience:
2000-2001 Faculty Member, Ryerson University, Toronto. Teaching applications of interactive electronics and microcontrollers in the School of Image Arts.
1989-1993 Faculty Member, the Ontario College of Art, Toronto. Teaching video, sound, and computer media production.
1999 Guest lecturer, electronics in art, Royal College of Art, Stockholm, Sweden.
1995 Faculty, digital video, International Academy of Design, Toronto.
1988-present Freelance lecturer/workshop leader, Canada and internationally.
Related Experience:
1996-2002 Digital Video Technician, Charles Street Video, artist-run centre, Toronto.
1993-1994 Internet Specialist, the Banff Centre, for the Nomad Networks project.
1987-1992 Designer and programmer for "Matrix", the world's first public-access UNIX server for telecommunicatons art and artists, InterAccess, Toronto.
1989-1990 Technical Manager, Trinity Square Video artist-run centre, Toronto.
1988-1997 Member of the Board of Directors of InterAccess, artist-run centre for electronic media arts. Chairman of the Board, 1991.
Grants, Awards, and Commissions:
2008 Production Grant, Canada Council. For the production of Technecology - Equipment for Living interactive art project.
2006/2007 Artist-in-Residence, Tesla, Berlin.
2005 Second Prize, VIDA 8.0 Art & Artificial Life International Competition, Fundacion Telefonica, Madrid. For LiveForm:Telekinetics with Michelle Teran.
2005 Research Grant, Canada Council for the Arts. For research and development of Equipment for Living interactive art project.
2003 Commissioning Grant, Canada Council/Waag Society, for production of LiveForm:Telekinetics project, with Michelle Teran.
1999 Research Grant, Canada Council for the Arts, for Interactive Art works.
1988-1996 Various grants for production of video art, computer music, and software art.
Exhibitions and Performances:
2014 New Babylon Revisited 2014, Athens, Greece. Pneumatic sculpture/installation work for “OCTO-APPS” interactive artwork/performance collaboration by Telekommunisten, with Dmytri Kleiner, Baruch Gottlieb, and Jonas Frankki.
2013 Transmediale 2013, Berlin, Germany. Pneumatic sculpture/installation work for “OCTO” interactive artwork/performance collaboration by Telekommunisten, with Dmytri Kleiner, Baruch Gottlieb, and Jonas Frankki.
2012 Transmediale 2012, Berlin, Germany. Hardware hacking for installation of “R15N” telecommunications artwork collaboration by Telekommunisten, with Dmytri Kleiner, Baruch Gottlieb, and Jonas Frankki.
2009 Der Verdrehte Blick, Wir Gallery, Berlin. Exhibited “Adult Contemporary” in group show.
2007 Subnet, Lab30 Festival, Augsburg, Germany. Interactive installation “Subnet” in group show.
2004-2006 LiveForm:Telekinetics 2, co-directed with Michelle Teran, exhibited at Biennale of Electronic Arts, Perth, Australia (group show, 2004); Waag Society, Amsterdam (solo show 2005), ARCO, Madrid (art fair, 2006); Vooruit, Ghent (festival, 2006), and the 4th Seoul International Media Art Biennale (group show, 2006).
2004 Machine Life, Agnes Etherington Gallery, Kingston. Exhibited "Adult Contemporary" in group show with Norman White, Doug Back, David Rokeby, and others.
2003 Interactions Labor, Göttelborn Coal Mine, Germany. Creation and performance of a telematic performance during residency at a former coal mining site.
2002 LiveForm: Telekinetics, InterAccess, Toronto, and Waag Society, Amsterdam. Co-producer and participant in four-month live art lab, pilot project for LF:TK 2.
2001 Hotwired Live Art 2, the Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, Alberta. Co-organizer and participant in international networked performance residency.
1999 The Nature of the Machine, Cambridge Galleries, Cambridge, Ontario. Interactive video installation Adult Contemporary and interactive sound sculpture Source Follower exhibited in group show with Michael O'Brien, Victoria Scott, and Norman White.
1998-1999 Tactile Video, InterAccess gallery, Toronto. Interactive video installation Adult Contemporary produced and exhibited in group show.
1997-1998 The SpaceProbe Show, InterAccess gallery, Toronto. Interactive sound sculpture Source Follower exhibited in group show.
1997 Dogs Ago Ago, the Art Gallery of Ontario. Performance of commissioned interactive sound environment for dance work entitled Lake Flo.
1996 Images Inter@ctiv, Toronto. Installation of "EXIT: Possible Worlds" in group show during the Images film & video festival.
1995 Electric Skin, Gallery 401, Toronto with international network nodes. Exhibited "EXIT: Possible Worlds" telerobotic work in group show.
1995 MetaComposition, The Music Gallery, Toronto. Programming and performance in algorithmic-composition ensemble led by Masahiro Miwa and David Rokeby.
1994 TV FreeNet, The Western Front, Vancouver with international network nodes. Artist-in-residence/solo exhibition and performance. A simulation of a possible free video network using Internet, "pirate" TV transmitters, ISDN videoconferencing, etc.
1993 ORLAN, The Banff Centre with international transmissions. Helped organize and participated in videoconferencing exchange with artist ORLAN, between New York City, Paris, Toronto, and Banff; performed live video collage.
1993 Video Witness, Hallwalls Gallery, Buffalo. Collaborated with artist Julia Sher on video surveillance installation, using "pirate" TV transmitter. Also taught workshop.
1992 CURRENT Works grand opening show. Video installation and sound sculpture in group show. Exhibited "A Bird Up There", "Rain Rain", several other works.
1992 The Age of Electronicus, the Lake Gallery, Toronto. Exhibited "A Bird Up There" sound sculpture in group show.
1991 videophone exchange, Studio for Creative Inquiry. Organized and participated in live exchange of computer graphics with Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh.
1991 Reflux, various international. Distributed "Handshake" over electronic network to be exhibited in Pittsburgh (Carnegie-Mellon), Brazil (Sao Paulo University), USA, Australia, Japan, etc.
1991 Transcontinental Jam, the Western Front, Vancouver and Studio X, Toronto. Organized live interactive telecommunications music & video performance.
1991 New Years Eve Telebration, , Electronic Cafe, Santa Monica and Dufferin Lanes, Toronto, with international network transmissions. Organized Toronto node of telecommunications art event linking various cities in different time zones.
1990 Annual Collection Purchase Screening, Trinity Square Video. "Absolute Zero" was purchased for the permanent collection.
Selected Freelance Art Collaboration and Consulting Projects:
2019 "Show Support" with artist Judy Radul. Robotic camera platform, control systems, user interface design, etc., for video sculpture/installation. Presented at the Albertinum, Dresden.
2019–2015 "Übergang" with artist Graham Smith. Control systems, graphics, user interface design, etc., for immersive interactive video installation. Presented at ThoughtWorks, Berlin.
2018 "Words No Pictures Pictures No Words" with artist Judy Radul. Robotic page-turning machines, control systems, user interface design, etc., for installation. Presented at the Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver.
2017 "Book of Glass" with artist Judy Radul. Robotic page-turning machines, control systems, user interface design, etc., for video sculpture/installation. Presented at the Contour Biennale, Mechelen.
2017 "the king, the door, the thief, the window, the stranger, the camera" with artist Judy Radul. Robotic page-turning machine, robotic sculpture elements, control systems, user interface design, etc., for video sculpture/installation. Presented at the Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam.
2014 "Look. Look Away. Look Back." with artist Judy Radul. Control systems, user interface design, etc., for robotic video camera installation. Presented at the Berlin Biennale, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin.
2014–2015 MOBI Jr. 2 and "Frøken MBI", with artist Graham Smith. Control systems, user interface design, etc., for telepresence robot artworks. Presented at Vitenfabriken Science Center in Sandnes, Norway.
2011 Strategic Arts Initiative, with artists Norman White, David Rokeby, Doug Back, Laura Kikauka, Carl Hamfelt, and Graham Smith. Programming and technical support for exhibition of telepresence art. Presented at V2, Rotterdam.
2010 Cybercity, with artist Graham Smith. Programming and control systems for telepresence robotics installation. Presented in Essen, Germany; and Shanghai, China.
2009-2010 Intersection, with artist Graham Smith. Programming of motion tracking, control system, and video animation, for interactive video installation. Presented at Transmediale, Berlin, 2010
2008-2009 Chameleon, with artist Tina Gonsalves. Programming of algorithm and control systems for interactive video installation using face recognition and emotional algorithms.
2005-2006 Greuelmaerchen, with artist/director Roberto Paci Dalo' (Italy) to create several installation artworks including motion tracking, sensors, interactive video/audio, and robotics. Presented at ET IN ARCADIA EGO: DIE INSPEKTION by Internationale Heiner Müller Gesellschaft, Berlin, 2006.
1997-2005 Collaborations with Istvan Kantor (Canada/Hungary), winner of the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, 2004. Designed and created all custom-built electronics interfaces, motion control, and software programming for his File Cabinet Project, winner of the Award of Distinction at Prix Ars Electronica 2000.
2000 Multiple Machine Matrix. Artist/Musician Gordon Monahan (Canada/Germany). Programmed control software for his interactive music installation commissioned by Sony for the grand opening of the Sony Center, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, 2000.
1998-1999 U Could Be Me. Artist Nell Tenhaaf (Canada). Created interactive software featuring genetic algorithms, interactive laserdisc, custom electronics and display panel. Exhibited internationally.
1997 The Atmosphere and its Double. Willy LeMaitre and Eric Rosenzveig. Created airborne wireless video transmission system for performance/installation.
1995 The Telepresence Robot, with artist Graham Smith. Rome, Italy and San Francisco, USA. Helped to create telepresence robotics performance at Trevi Fountain.