Dr. Lev Manovich

Email:

manovich (dot) lev (at) gmail (dot) com

Recognition

According to automatic rating by Google Scholar academic search engine, Manovich is the most cited author in the world in "digital culture," "digital art," and "new media."

Citations: 37743
h-index: 52

Research Interests

AI and culture, generative media, digital art, media theory, art history, visual culture, cultural analytics, digital humanities, data science

Bio

Short version:

Lev Manovich is an artist, writer, and one of the world's most influential digital culture theorists. He was included in the lists of “25 People Shaping the Future of Design” (Complex, 2013) and “50 Most Interesting People Building the Future” (Verge, 2014). Manovich is a Presidential Professor in Data Science and Computer Science at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and a Director of the Cultural Analytics Lab. Manovich published 180 articles and 15 books that include AI Aesthetics, Cultural Analytics, Instagram and Contemporary Image, and The Language of New Media described as “the most suggestive and broad-ranging media history since Marshall McLuhan.” His digital art projects were shown in 120 international exhibitions in Centre Pompidou, ICA London, ZKM, KIASMA, and other leading venues.

Long version:

Dr. Lev Manovich is a Presidential Professor at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and founder and director of the Cultural Analytics Lab.

In 2013 Manovich appeared in the List of 25 People Shaping the Future of Design (Complex). In 2014 he was included in the list of 50 most interesting people building the future (The Verge).

Manovich played a key part in creating four new research fields: new media studies (1991-), software studies (2001-), cultural analytics (2007-) and AI culture studies (2018-). He is the author and editor of 15 books including Cultural Analytics (2020), AI Aesthetics (2018), Theories of Software Culture (2017), Instagram and Contemporary Image (2017), Software Takes Command, (Bloomsbury Academic, 2013), Black Box - White Cube (Merve Verlag Berlin, 2005), Soft Cinema (The MIT Press, 2005), The Language of New Media (The MIT Press, 2001), Metamediji (Belgrade, 2001), Tekstura: Russian Essays on Visual Culture (Chicago University Press, 1993) as well as 180 articles which have been published in 35 countries and reprinted 650 times. He is also one of the editors of Quantitative Methods in Humanities and Social Science book series (Springer).

The Language of New Media is translated into 14 languages and is used a textbook in thousands of programs around the world. According to the reviewers, this book offers "the first rigorous and far-reaching theorization of the subject"; "it places [new media] within the most suggestive and broad-ranging media history since Marshall McLuhan." "Software Takes Command" is also widely used in teaching - it is ranked as one of the top 20 open access books appearing on class syllabi in a number of countries. According to Google Scholar, Manovich's publications have been cited 34,900 times.

Manovich was born in Moscow where he studied fine arts, architecture, and computer programming. He moved to New York in 1981, receiving an M.A. in Visual Science and Cognitive Psychology (NYU, 1988) and a Ph.D. in Visual and Cultural Studies from the University of Rochester (1993). Manovich has been working with computer media as an artist, computer animator, designer, and programmer since 1984.

His digital art projects were shown in 120 group and personal exhibitions worldwide. The lab’s projects were commissioned by MoMA, New Public Library, and Google. "Selfiecity" won Golden Award in Best Visualization Project category in the global competition in 2014; "On Broadway" received Silver Award in the same category in 2015. The places which showed his work include New York Public Library (NYPL), Google's Zeitgeist 2014, Shanghai Art and Architecture Biennale, Chelsea Art Museum (New York), ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), The Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, US), KIASMA (Helsinki, Finland), Centre Pompidou (Paris, France), ICA (London, UK), and Graphic Design Museum (Breda, The Netherlands).

In 2007 Manovich founded Software Studies Initiative (renamed Cultural Analytics Lab in 2016.) The lab pioneered computational analysis and visualization of massive cultural visual datasets in the humanities. The lab's collaborators included the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, Getty Research Institute, Austrian Film Museum, Netherlands Institute for Sound and Image, and other institutions that are interested in using its methods and software with their media collections. Since 2012 and 2016, Manovich directed a number of projects that present an analysis of 16 million Instagram images shared worldwide.

He received grants and fellowships from Guggenheim Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts (NEH), Twitter, and many other agencies.

Between 1996 and 2012, Manovich was a Professor in Visual Arts Department at University of California San Diego (UCSD) where he was teaching classes in digital art, new media theory, and digital humanities. In addition, Manovich was a visiting professor at California Institute of the Arts, The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Amsterdam, Stockholm University, University of Art and Design in Helsinki, Hong Kong Art Center, University of Siegen, Gothenburg School of Art, Goldsmiths College at the University of London, De Montfort University in Leicester, the University of New South Wales in Sydney, The University of Tyumen, Tel Aviv University and Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Shanghai. Between 2009 and 2017, he was a faculty at European Graduate School (EGS). He was also the core faculty member at The Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture, and Design, Moscow (2016-2019) and a visiting faculty in School of Cultural Studies and Philosophy, Higher School of Economics, (Moscow, Russia (2020 - 2021).

Manovich is in demand to lecture on his research topics around the world. Since 1999 he presented over 700 invited lectures, keynotes, seminars, and master classes in North and South America, Asia, and Europe.