IMMERSIVISM
"Immersivism...the art of the internet"
DR. STEVE GUYNUP
"The Crystal Cabinet", S. Guynup, W. Blake, VRML (2003)
Dr. Steve Guynup is an award-winning artist and VR pioneer.
More designer and accidental historian than artist, Dr Steve Guynup began his exploration of the virtual in 1995. A member of Karel Dudesek / VanGogh TV’s pioneering “Web3Dart.org” group, he shared work globally during the Dot Com boom years.
Best Avatar, Best Art, & Best Conceptual Advancement are some of the awards won. After being the “Runner-Up” to be Apple Computer’s 3D Evangelist, he went to work for Ars Electronica Winner Andy Best’s Meet Factory in Helsinki.
After the Dot Com bust, Steve returned to academia, He earned a master’s degree under Dr. Janet Murray and Jay Bolter at Georgia Tech. At the University of Baltimore, he picked up his doctorate with help from Stuart Moulthrop. During this time, he wrote papers and gave presentations at ACM SIGGRAPH, CHI, C&C, Museums on the Web, Romantic Circles, and more.
"Pop Loved Scotch", S. Guynup, Jon Goode, Sansar (2017)
In 2010, he chaired a special Web3D Art & Design Retrospective at SIGGRAPH. Finished with doctoral coursework in 2006, Steve went to work on his dissertation and to spend time with his mother in rural western NY.
After she had a stroke, Steve’s career path changed and he became a caregiver. His job, teaching game design online for the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, still afforded opportunities for teaching in web3D and many special topic classes on VR Art & Design were run.
It’s now 2025, his mother passed a few years ago, he now teaches online for Southern New Hampshire University and runs workshops for the Serious Play Association. With 30 years of experience on the creative edge of VR, Dr. Guynup is looking to share, record, and publish the missing history of VR art & design.