Ali Hossaini

Ali Hossaini (b. West Virginia) is an American artist, philosopher and businessperson. In 2010 the New York Times described him as a "biochemist turned philosopher turned television producer turned visual poet" in reference to a body of work which spans art, science and philosophy. He has served as an executive in a number of media and technology-oriented businesses, where he has been responsible for introducing innovations in content, interaction and distribution that developed into industry standards.

Contents

• A cathedral of science ali hossaini s ouroboros
• Lcd awards 2015 ali hossaini on art being a lifestyle
• Exhibitions
• Filmography
• References

The son of an Iraqi father and American mother, Hossaini came of age during the Reagan Era, when he became a producer for Alternative Views, a television program that offered progressive news, commentary and interviews. He also produced short films that were distributed by Deep Dish Television. He went on to write for the Village Voice and other publications. In 1994 he received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin, then became involved with academic publishing and the Internet. He launched The Surrealist Revolution at the University of Texas Press, a book series whose inaugural volume, Surrealist Woman, revealed the suppressed histories of female artists. He also published one of the first electronic books, Istanbul Boy, in 1996. and produced one of the first public webcasts, Come to Me, that same year.

Hossaini left Texas to join the staff of The Site, a San Francisco-based television newsmagazine on MSNBC, as a producer and commentator. His focus was on involving audiences in television broadcasts. He moved to ZDTV where he continued to develop interactive projects that integrated audience tools like chat and webcams into television programs. As vice president for community at Oxygen Media, he developed applications for video sharing and managed presence to integrate numerous corporate acquisitions into a single network. He served as executive producer and director of programming for Equator HD, high-definition television channel devoted to travel, culture and natural history until 2009.

As executive producer of LAB HD, Hossaini fostered the creation of several dozen films in avant-garde and experimental genres, including the Voom Portraits Robert Wilson, a project that became well known after Vanity Fair featured one of its subjects, actor Brad Pitt, on its cover. The series of HDTV videos feature performances by Hollywood stars, European and Persian royalty and notable artists. The Voom Portraits Robert Wilson exhibition opened in 2007 at Paula Cooper Gallery and Philips de Pury Gallery in New York City. His productions have also been featured in the Whitney Biennial, the Tribeca Film Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music and other venues.

In 2011 Hossaini became CEO of CAN: Cinema Arts Network, a UK-based consortium of cinemas and art centers, launching the company with a live broadcast of the London Symphony Orchestra from the Barbican Centre. Cinema Arts Network completed a national broadband "Network for the arts" in 2014, and in 2015 Hossaini announced CAN 2.0, an initiative to engage audiences via smartphones in sixteen UK arts venues.