Michael Naimark

Michael Naimark spent twelve years as an independent media artist before joining Interval Research Corporation in 1992. He was instrumental in making the first interactive videodiscs and has “moviemapped” Aspen from the street, Paris from the sidewalk, San Francisco from the air, and Karlsruhe, Germany, from the rail. He has also worked extensively with projection and immersive virtual environments. His artwork has been exhibited internationally.

Naimark has held faculty appointments at the San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, California Institute of the Arts, M.I.T., the University of Michigan, and is on the Editorial Boards of Presence and Leonardo Electronic Almanac. He created a B.S. in Cybernetic Systems as an independent major from the University of Michigan in 1974 and received an M.S. in Visual Studies and Environmental Art from M.I.T. in 1979.

The Karlsruhe Moviemap is a virtual travel installation about the town of Karlsruhe, Germany. It consists of a large immersive video projection, a lever for controlling speed, and three push-buttons for chosing which way to go at intersections.
Karlsruhe has a well-known tramway system, with over 100 kilometers of track snaking from the downtown pedestrian area to the edge of the Black Forest. Using the tramway system as the basis for a moviemap of this town has its drawbacks, since it doesn’t go everywhere. But these routes are where they are for reasons of history, politics, geography, and culture, reasons respected by this installation.