Dean, Learning, Teaching & Research

Dr Wolfgang Muench

Dr Wolfgang Muench
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Theatre, Film and Media Studies), University of Vienna
  • MAS Masters of Advanced Studies, ZHdK University of the Arts Zurich, Institute for Design and Technology, Switzerland
  • Diplom Freie Grafik (MA Fine Arts equivalent), State Academy of Art and Design Stuttgart, Germany

Dr Wolfgang Muench is an academic leader, educator and media artist whose work sits at the intersection of artistic innovation, digital transformation and institutional strategy. His media art practice and research engages with critical discourses on cybernetics, post-humanism, and artificial intelligence, and is internationally recognised through exhibitions, publications and presentations. 

In his current role, Dr Muench plays a central role in shaping institutional pedagogical and research environments in response to emerging epistemological shifts in tertiary arts education. His international profile includes collaborations with leading arts institutions, scholars and artists. In 2017, he received his PhD in Theatre, Film and Media Studies from the University of Vienna.

Dr Muench’s research addresses the sociocultural, technological and epistemological impacts and effects of media systems, with a particular focus on cybernetics, human-computer environments and post-humanist frameworks. His research is grounded in practice-led methodologies and shaped by a sustained international artistic practice. Notable works such as Bubbles and Small Fish have been presented in over 50 international exhibitions and festivals across Europe, the US and Asia, with Bubbles included in the ZKM Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe/Museum of Contemporary Art permanent collection since 2002. His academic writing, including peer-reviewed publications in Routledge and Leonardo (MIT Press), explores the intersections of interactive systems and artistic knowledge production in posthuman environments, and the implications of generative AI for research, pedagogical environments and epistemic frameworks.

Dr Muench worked at the ZKM as a software designer and project manager across the Institutes of Visual Media, Music and Acoustics, and Network Development. His work focused on the development of offline and online media art projects and immersive digital environments. He contributed to seminal media art projects at ZKM, including the Panoramic Navigator Visitor Information System and the ‘artintact’ and ‘digital art edition’ series of hybrid book–CD-ROM publications, and was involved in collaborative industry-facing initiatives with DaimlerChrysler and Nokia. He was Artist in Residence at ARS Electronica Linz, Austria and IAMAS Institute for Advanced Media Arts and Science, Ogaki, Japan.

Dr Muench’s teaching portfolio spans foundational to advanced levels across institutions in Europe and Asia, including roles at Merz Academy Stuttgart and the Hong Kong Art Centre/The Art School, delivering courses in media design, interactive systems and software development. He has developed pioneering curricula, advanced practice-led research cultures, and contributed extensively to academic governance and institutional development. 

Since 2003, Dr Muench has held senior academic positions at LASALLE, including Senior Lecturer in Interactive Art, Programme Leader for Media Arts, and served in key academic leadership roles since 2004, including founding Dean of the Faculty of Media Arts and founding Dean of Learning, Teaching & Research. 

Read More
Video

  • ‘Men of Letters: Perspectives on Multi-Sensory Environments in the Hall-McLuhan Correspondence, 1961–1977’.  Leonardo, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 334–339 (2024)
  • ‘Art and AI: Educators must find ways to ease students’ fears’’. Opinion piece, The Straits Times (2024)
  • ‘Merging Digital and Physical Arts Education’ (co-author). A Trends and Foresight Report on Cyber-Physical Learning. SUTD, pp. 78–82 (2024)
  • ‘The Discrete Charm of Systems Theories: Cybernetic Intelligence and Posthuman Art Environments’. Distributed Perception: Resonances and Axiologies, Routledge, pp. 99–113 (2021)
  • ‘An Evening at the Ballroom: Whatever Happened to Televanilla?’ Conference Proceedings of RE:SOUND 2019, Aalborg, Denmark, BCS Learning and Development Ltd., pp. 258–267 (2020)
  • ‘System Designs for Arts Pedagogy’ (co-author). Proceedings of Cumulus – To get there: Designing together, Paris 4/2018, Cumulus Association, pp. 1140–1158 (2018) 
  • ‘Notes on Sound of Ikebana’, in: Sound of Ikebana, Four Seasons, ed. N. Tosa, Singapore: Naoko Tosa/ArtScience Museum (2014)
  • ‘No/w/here: Scenographies for SomePlaceElse’, in: Space and Desire: Monitoring Scenography 03, eds. T Brejzek, W Greissenegger and L Wallen, Zurich: ZHdK (2010)
  • ‘A Cultural Language of Things’, in: Space and Desire: Monitoring Scenography 02, eds. T Brejzek, W Greissenegger and L Wallen, Zurich: ZHdK (2009)
  • ‘Presence/Absence’ (co-author): The 2005 ACM Multimedia Interactive Art Exhibition, IEEE Multimedia, 13(1) (2006)

Citations—academic articles

  • Shamma, David A., and Daragh Byrne. An Introduction to Arts and Digital Culture inside Multimedia. MM 2015 – Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Multimedia Conference. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc (2015) 
  • Slavkovikj, V. et al. , Visitor-Art Interaction by Motion Path Detection. Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Digital Signal Processing (DSP) (2013)
  • Chamberlain, Alan et al. Them and Us: An Indoor Pervasive Gaming Experience. Entertainment Computing, vol. 4, no. 1 (2012)

Citations–media art work: Bubbles

  • Innocenti, Perla. Cultural Networks in Migrating Heritage: Intersecting Theories and Practices across Europe. Ashgate (2015)
  • Barker, Timothy Scott. Time and the Digital: Connecting Technology, Aesthetics, and a Process Philosophy of Time. Dartmouth College Press (2012)
  • ZKM Zentrum für Medienkunst Karlsruhe and Landesinstitut für Schulentwicklung, Editors. Meisterwerke Der Kunst: Medienkunst. Neckar-Verlag (2012)

Citations–media art work: Small Fish

  • Kwastek, Katja. Aesthetics of Interaction in Digital Art. MIT Press (2013)
  • Hamilton, Robert. Maps and Legends: Designing Fps-Based Interfaces for Multi-User Composition, Improvisation and Immersive Performance. Springer Berlin Heidelberg (2008) 
  • Koch, Michael et al. ‘Round Table: A Physical Interface for Virtual Camera Deployment in Electronic Arenas.’ In: Bernd Fröhlich et al. (eds). Immersive Projection Technology and Virtual Environments, Springer Vienna (2001)

  • Small Fish, Good Design Award, Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization, Category Interaction Design/Communication Design (2001)
  • Bubbles, Most Popular Showpiece by Visitor’s Vote, Art Lives, Art Museum Stuttgart, Germany, Grosse Landesausstellung ‘Kunst Lebt’, Stuttgart, Germany (2006)

Media art projects

  • Obake: Interactive machine-vision mixed-reality & sound environment; collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa; first exhibited at YCAM Yamaguchi, Japan (2003)
  • Let’s Make Small Fish: Interactive audio-visual workshop for children; collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa; first performed at Niihama City Welfare Center, Niihama, Japan (2003)
  • FreudGeist: Interactive machine-vision mixed-reality dance performance collaboration with Joulia Strauss; first exhibited at Graz03, Austria (2003)
  • Bubbles: Interactive machine-vision mixed-reality & sound environment; collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa; first exhibited at IAMAS, Japan (2001)
  • Small Fish Tale II: Concert / interactive concert; collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa and Masaki Fujihata; first performance at Ars Electronica Center Linz/Brucknerhaus (2000)
  • Small Fish Tale I: Interactive machine-vision mixed-reality & sound environment; collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa and Masaki Fujihata; first exhibited at Ars Electronica Center Linz (2000)
  • Small Fish: Interactive Music / Active Score Music CD-Rom; collaboration with Kiyoshi Furukawa and Masaki Fujihata; published by ZKM Center for Art and Media and Cantz Verlag Ostfildern (1999)

Conference presentations (select)

  • ‘AI-Driven Futures of Higher Education: A Speculation’ (co-author). 2nd Cyber-Physical Learning Alliance Summit 2025, Cyber-Physical Learning Alliance, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Hong Kong (2025)
  • ‘From Romantic Authorship to AI Collaboration: A Speculative Future of Academia’ (co-author). NTU Annual Learning and Teaching Conference: From Good to Great 2025, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Technological University; Singapore (2025)
  • ‘Ephemeral Realities: Boutourline’s Signal-Oriented Approach in the Light of Whitehead’s Process Philosophy.’ Re:Generative; 11th International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology, XXI International Academic Forum on Design and Creation – Media Art History, University of Caldas & University of Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano; Manizales/Bogotà (2025)
  • ‘What If – GenAI is Really Happening at Higher Education Institutions?’ (co-author). HEPA Forum 2025, Higher Education Planning in Asia Association, Institute of Science Tokyo; Tokyo, Japan  (2025)
  • ‘Ephemeral Realities & Epistemic Energies: Signals, Systems, and Processes.’ Contested & Erased Energy Knowledges: A Trans-Disciplinary Conference, University of Dundee, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design; online/Dundee (2024)
  • ‘Reconfiguring Reality: Indeterminacy in Times of Counter-Culture.’ Indeterminate Futures / The Future of Indeterminacy, University of Dundee, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design; online/Dundee (2020)
  • ‘Signals in Time and Space: A Submerged Media Avant-gardist Attempt on Environmental Design.’ Impact! From Bauhaus to IKEA, IKEA x UTS Future Living Lab, University of Technology Sydney; Sydney (2019)
  • ‘System Designs for Arts Pedagogy’ (co-author). Cumulus – To get there: Designing together, International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media; Paris (2018)

Conference panel (select)

  • Panel moderator, ‘Engagement Strategies for a Globalized Higher Education Landscape: International Collaboration.’ HEPA Forum 2025, Higher Education Planning in Asia Association, Institute of Science; Tokyo, Japan (2025)
  • Member of Panel, ‘AI in Education & Future Thinking.’ 8th Silesian Science Festival KATOWICE, University of Silesia/Katowice, International Congress Centre; Katowice, Poland (2024)
  • Member of Panel, ‘Best-practice blended design: fully redesigning course for online, then plotting in key, strategic, face-to-face experiences.” EDUTech Asia 2021,; online/Singapore (2021)
  • Panel chair, ‘Landscapes’, 13th Asian Cinema Studies Society (ACSS) conference: The Environments of Asian Cinema; Singapore (2019)
  • Panel chair, ‘Embodied, Situated Patterns and Generative Architectures’, Is Big Data A New Media: An Interdisciplinary Symposium; Singapore (2018)

Participation in exhibitions (select)

  • ZKM | Centre for Art and Media – Media Museum; Karlsruhe, Germany (since 2002)
  • Tokyo University of the Arts, University Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2021)
  • Global Games, ZKM Center for Art and Media; Karlsruhe, Germany (2015–2016)
  • Favorites, Kunstmuseum Ravensburg; Germany (solo exhibition) (2013)
  • III International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville; Seville, Spain (2008)
  • Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Santiago de Chile; Chile (2008)
  • Microwave International New Media Arts Festival; Hong Kong (2007)
  • Phaeno Science Center; Wolfsburg, Germany (2005–2016)
  • Artgames, Ludwig Forum Aachen; Germany (2005)
  • EMPAC, Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center; Troy, New York, US (2005)
  • My Name is Game – Art+Science2004, Gana Art Center; Seoul, Korea (2004)
  • LOISIUM World of Wine Museum; Langenlois, Austria (2003–2010)
  • Earl Lu Gallery, LASALLE College of the Arts; Singapore (2003)
  • Watermans Gallery; London, UK (2002)
  • ISEA 2002, 11th International Symposium on Electronic Art; Nagoya, Japan (2002)
  • Lovebytes Festival; Sheffield, UK (2002)
  • Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science; Tokyo, Japan (2001–2005)
  • Interaction01, IAMAS Institute for Advanced Media Art and Science; Japan (2001)
  • Warschauer Musik Herbst Warschau, Poland (2000)
  • ARS Electronica Center/Brucknerhaus: Linz, Austria (2000)
  • European Media Art Festival; Osnabrück, Germany (2000)
  • Children Week, NTT-ICC InterCommunication Center; Tokyo, Japan (2000)
  • Transmediale; Berlin, Germany (2000)

  • Member of Editorial Team. Cyber-Physical Learning Journal, SUDT; Singapore (since 2024)
  • Member of Editorial Board. Theatre and Performance Design Journal, Routledge (T&F); London (Since 2022)
  • Coordinator LASALLE College of the Arts & Member of Project Team: Shared Campus. Cooperation Platform for International Education Formats & Research Networks (since 2019)
  • Academic Director LASALLE College of the Arts & Member of Consortium Board: MediaAC. EU Erasmus Mundus+ Joint Master (EMJM) Degree Media Arts Culture (since 2019)
  • Member of Board & GDI Faculty: Global Design Initiative, joint venture among globally-oriented arts and design universities (since 2016)
  • Member of Art Gallery Committee, Siggraph Asia (2012–2013)
  • Accredited Sector/Subject Specialist (Multimedia Game Design, Animation) HKCAAVQ Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (2006–2014)
  • Member of Programme Committee: ACM Multimedia Interactive Art Programme (2006–2009)
  • Co-chair and member of Curatorial Committee: ACM Multimedia Interactive Art Programme; Singapore (2005)
  • Technical Coordinator for Merz Academy Stuttgart: LEDA. Academy European Union IST Framework 5: Learning Environment for the Digital Academy (1999–2002)

  • Sociocultural and societal impact and effects of digital media technology and human-computer interfaces
  • Artificial intelligence in contemporary artistic practice
  • Participatory content creation processes in distributed online learning spaces
  • System theory and its application to interdisciplinary mediated art practice in the 1960s