Imges

doi:10.1353/dia.2007.0003

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Images

The work of Maurice Benayoun (Mo Ben) explores the potentiality of various media from video to virtual reality, Web and wireless art, public-space large-scale art installations, and interactive exhibitions. Cofounder in 1987 of Z-A (Paris), a pioneer CG and VR lab, between 1990 and 1993 he wrote (with François Schuiten) and directed The Quarxs, the first HDTV CG series widely awarded and broadcast in more than fifteen countries. In 1993, he won the Villa Medicis Hors Les Murs of the Foreign Ministry for his Art after Museum project, a contemporary art collection in virtual reality.

After 1993, Benayoun created VR and interactive art installations, among them The Tunnel under the Atlantic (1995), a televirtual project linking the Pompidou Center in Paris and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal. In 1998, he was awarded the Golden Nica, Prix Ars Electronica, Interactive Art category, for World Skin, a Photo Safari in the Land of War.

In addition to his artwork, Benayoun has been involved in many large-scale exhibitions, events, and architecture projects, including Navigation Room (1997) and The Membrane (2001) for the Cité des Sciences de la Villette, the Panoramic Tables for the Planet of Visions Pavilion for Hanover EXPO2000, and the Multimedia Tour for the Abbaye de Fontevraud. He conceived and directed the exhibition Cosmopolis, Overwriting the City, a giant art and science immersive installation, presented in the frame of the French Year in China. He is working now on a permanent exhibition of the Arc de Triomphe, Paris.