Chris Ziegler – Digital Artist on Stage

Chris Ziegler is a digital artist, director, and designer with a background in architecture and new media art. His work explores the intersection of performance, immersive technologies, and interactive design, with stage productions integrating robotics, AR/VR, and AI.
After teaching Interactive Media at Arizona State University (USA) until 2021, Ziegler returned to Europe to continue producing experimental stage works. From 2021–2023, he was a member of DOCKdigital Motion Lab Berlin, leading digital workshops for theater professionals.
Ziegler’s artistic career began in 1994 at the Center for Art and Media ZKM Karlsruhe, where he researched choreographic software for dancers in collaboration with Ballet Frankfurt. This resulted in the influential CD-ROM Bill Forsythe: Improvisation Technologies, now widely used in dance curricula across Europe.
In 2000, he founded the digital theater company movingimages, producing stage works and installations in dance and music theater. He develops custom immersive technologies and investigates VR, AR, robotics, and AI to create new forms of interactive theater. He has also collaborated with leading institutions and choreographers, including the Bavarian State Opera Munich, Wuppertal Opera House, Karlsruhe State Theater, Konzert Theater Bern, and Neue Oper Vienna.
As a member of several European theater research initiatives, Ziegler has contributed to major interdisciplinary projects:
D.A.N.C.E. (Dance Apprentices Across Europe) – developed postgraduate curricula for interdisciplinary dance training with Frédéric Flamand, William Forsythe, Wayne McGregor, and Angelin Preljocaj.
InsideMovementKnowledge – created installations and multimedia works at ICKAmsterdam, Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, and Utrecht University.
European TheatreLab: Drama Goes Digital – served as production designer for digital theater projects at Théâtre de la Manufacture Nancy, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Kote Marjanishvili State Drama Theatre Tbilisi, and Det Norske Teatret Oslo.
Ars Electronica Festival (2018) – presented interactive stage work as part of the European TheatreLab.

Currently, Ziegler is part of the European MODINA residency network (Movement, Digital Intelligence, and Interactive Audience) and MIREVI XR Lab Düsseldorf, which supported his VR dance production YUGEN (2024). Premiered at Temps d’Image Festival, Tanzhaus NRW Düsseldorf, YUGEN toured Eastern Europe in fall 2024.

Awards & Recognition
Young Art and New Media Award, Munich
Art Prize of the State of Baden-Württemberg
Nomination: Monaco Dance Forum Award (Digital Category)
I.D. Magazine (NY) Bronze & Silver Awards
New Voices, New Visions Award (New York)

Teaching, Workshop & Research Appointments (Selected)
Arizona State University (USA) – School of Arts, Media & Engineering
University of Maryland Baltimore County (USA)
HfG Karlsruhe / ZKM Karlsruhe (GER)
Academy of Media Arts Cologne (GER)
Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK (CH)
University of Arts & Industrial Design Linz (AT), Interface Cultures
Concordia University, Montreal (CA)
Simon Fraser University, Vancouver (CA), SIAT
LASALLE University, Singapore
City University of Hong Kong, School of Creative Media