Martin Rieser Is First Professor of Digital Creativity for Dmu
20th May 2008
De Montfort University has appointed its first Professor of Digital Creativity. Professor Martin Rieser is the new arrival whose newly created role spans both DMU's Faculty of Art & Design and its Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT).
Prof Rieser said: "The post is unique in its role of fostering a direct relationship between IOCT - an institute which includes such a multidisciplinary team of computer scientists, engineers and performing artists - and a traditional art and design institute."
Prof Rieser joins from Bath Spa University, where he was Professor of Digital Arts and Senior Teaching Fellow from 2000 to 2007. He previously lectured at Napier University in Edinburgh, University of the West of England in Bristol, and the City of London Polytechnic.
He has been exhibiting his digital art since 1988 and curating exhibitions since 1984. Prof Rieser has also presented at and organised conferences around the world and had many academic research papers published.
Three of Prof Rieser's first speaking engagements as a DMU professor are in the next two months. This month he will deliver a keynote speech in Athens, and in June he will be at the Solstice Interactive Learning Conference at Edge Hill University in Lancashire. In July he is at the Intelligent Environments conference at the University of Washington in Seattle.
He took research leave in 2004 to 2005 to write a book on mobile media art and to create a new work for Bath Abbey called Hosts which used mobile technology to track the location of a visitor, projecting giant video images in response to the viewer's movements. Hosts will be the subject of Prof Rieser's talk in Seattle.
The new research chair at DMU is unusual, said Prof Rieser. "These posts are few and far between. And it's a research professorship, so it gives a great deal of freedom within broad parameters. Moving to De Montfort appealed because the University has a lot of energy, it is rebuilding the arts school, is putting investment into the IOCT and there is a vision and a can-do attitude here.
"Part of my role will be to help generate a more energetic approach to research and get more work published. Leicester is at an interesting moment; it is on a cusp of reinventing itself and there is a mood to use art - and digital art - as part of that."
Professor Andrew Hugill, Director of the IOCT, said: "We are delighted Martin has joined us. He has a rich experience in digital art, having been a leading light in this field over many years. We look forward to seeing what Martin and DMU will produce and how that will enhance the University's ability to be a leading force in digital creativity in the future."
Dr Gerard Moran, Dean of the Faculty of Art & Design, said: "Martin is an excellent appointment, as he brings a deep and broad understanding of digital creativity and a personal drive to push DMU to the forefront of research in this fascinating and rapidly evolving field. He is, by instinct and practice, someone who enjoys collaborative work across different disciplines. We have high hopes of what he and his colleagues in the IOCT and the Faculty can achieve together."
For further information or to be kept informed about IOCT activities, please contact:The Director, Institute of Creative Technologies,
De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH
Tel: (+44) 0116 250 6146
Email: eedmonds [at] dmu.ac.uk
www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk