Bio

Elmar Trefz works in the area of Media Art and Interaction Designer. One of his interests is the relationship between the real and the virtual world. An example was The Race Car Project at Playshop in the Yerba Buena Center of Arts, San Francisco where Internet users from the virtual world could control RC Cars in the real world.

Furthermore, he is interested in how the Internet can be liberated from the screen and float freely around us. This interest is manifested in his work The Wave Pillow, where a Surfer can feel the size of the waves on the vibration of a pillow.

Both of these projects were outcomes of his Residency at Futurefarmers in San Francisco, California where he also gained his first teaching experiences with Amy Franceschini at Stanford's SUDAC Lab.

His project City Veins is based on the ubiquitous existence of Mobile Phones and their owner's relationship with the urban environment. Its aim is to visualize Location Based interaction.

He has also been involved in projects at the ZKM - Karlsruhe, Germany and the Disonancias initiative in San Sebastian, Spain.

Originally, he is from Germany but studied Media Art in Melbourne, Autralia and at the
Media Centre of Art and Design in Barcelona, Spain where he was mentored by Claudia Gianetti.
He is currently based in Sydney, Australia.


Project Links: UNESCO | City Veins | The Wave Pillow | The Race Car Project | My84 | Table Service

Latest Press: I.D. Magazine | Pig Magazine | Surfer Magazine | GEO Magazine


CV

Work:

Spinifex
Sydney, Australia
Jul.2007 - Now
Digital Experiences

Disonancias
San Sebastian, Spain
Sep.2006 - Apr.2007
Innovation

Suebo Projects
Stuttgart, Germany
Apr.2006 - Now
Media Art and Interaction Design

ZKM - Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe, Germany
Mar.2006 - Apr.2006
Visual Media department

MECAD - Centre of Art and Design
Barcelona, Spain
Feb.2005 - Mar.2006
Creation of the UNESCO knowledge portal Digi-Arts

The Wave Pillow
Sydney, Australia
May 2004 - Now
Commercialization of the Wave Pillow

Futurefarmers
San Francisco, California
Nov.2003 - May 2004
New Media and Interaction Design Projects

Freelance New Media Designer
Stuttgart, Germany
Sep.1998-Nov.2003
New Media Projects for diverse clients.

Education:

Media Centre of Art and Design
Barcelona, Spain
Feb.2005 - Dec.2005
MA, Interactive Media Art

National Institute for Design
Melbourne, Australia
Feb.2003 - Dec.2003
Graduate Diploma

Instituto Europeo di Design
Barcelona, Spain
Jul.2003
ID3 – Program

Teaching:

Stanford University
Palo Alto, California
Feb.2004-Apr.2004

Teaching with Amy Franceschini in Physical Interaction at Stanford's SUDAC Lab.
The major focus was the interaction with dynamic content through diverse interfaces in Flash, HTML or Physical.

One outcome of this course was Political Friendster.

Maine College of Art
Portland, Maine
Dec.2003

2 Day Workshop on Physical Computing.
The Students where introduced to the concept of Physical Interaction with the use of Making Things Teleo Modules.

Media:

Press
Focus (Germany)
I.D. Magazine (USA)
New Inventors (Australia)
Surfer (USA)
Hardcore (Brazil)
Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia)
Pig Magazine (Italy)
GEO Magazine (Germany)

Televison
New Inventors (Australia)
Channel Nine News (Australia)
Totally Wild (Australia)

Radio
ABC Radio (Australia)
The Early Show 99.9 KTYD (USA)
BBC Radio (UK)