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Peter Lunenfeld | |
|---|---|
 Peter Lunenfeld | |
| Born | 1962 (age 63–64) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupations | Critic, theorist, professor |
| Employer | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Known for | Humanities and media studies |
| Notable work | City at the Edge of Forever; Digital_Humanities; USER; Snap to Grid; The Digital Dialectic |
| Title | Vice Chair, Design Media Arts; Director, Institute for Technology and Aesthetics (ITA) |
| Awards | IAAC Internal Award for Art Criticism (2016); Dorothy Lee Prize for Scholarship (2013); Fellowships at Huntington Library, USC Annenberg, Columbia University |
| Website | peterlunenfeld.com |
Peter Lunenfeld (born 1962, in New York City) is a critic and theorist of digital media, digital humanities, and urban humanities. He is a professor and the vice chair of the Design Media Arts department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); director of the Institute for Technology and Aesthetics (ITA); and founder of mediawork: The Southern California New Media Group.
Lunenfeld is a leading figure in digital aesthetic theory, set on establishing philosophical quandaries regarding digital technology and its role in art, design and culture. Works like Snap to Grid and The Secret War Between Downloading and Uploading incorporate traditional and continental theories of art to account for digital media. His work revolves around the discourses of technology, aesthetics, and cultural theory, establishing the complexity of digital aesthetics while simultaneously categorizing it.
His books include City at the Edge of Forever, Digital_Humanities, USER, Snap to Grid, and The Digital Dialectic. Lunenfeld is the editorial director of the Mediawork pamphlet series for the MIT Press. The series features commissioned writings that weave life stories into "theoretical and critical praxis." These award-winning "theoretical fetish objects" cover the intersections of art, design, technology, and market culture. Included in the series is Utopian Entrepreneur (2001) by Brenda Laurel, designed by Denise Gonzales Crisp; Writing Machines (2002) by N. Katherine Hayles, designed by Anne Burdick; Rhythm Science (2004) by Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid, designed by COMA; and, Shaping Things (2005) by Bruce Sterling, designed by Lorraine Wild. Lev Manovich, the author of The Language of New Media, lauded these 100 page "mind bombs" in the tradition of McLuhan and Fiore¹s The Medium is the Massage as a new operating system for the book.
Lunenfeld has a B.A. in history from Columbia University, an MA in Media Studies from the University of Buffalo, and a Ph.D. from UCLA in Film & Television. He worked as the Applications Coordinator at the hardware and software company Lyon Lamb. Honors and fellowships include a 2016 Internal Award for Art Criticism (from the IAAC), the Dorothy Lee Prize for Scholarship in 2013 (from the MEA), and fellowships at the Huntington Library (Dana and David Dornsife Fellow, 2015-16), USC Annenberg Center (Vectors, 2007), and the Columbia University Institute for Scholars at Reid Hall in Paris (2005). He lives in Los Angeles, California.
