John McKiernan - 1980 in Dublin, Ireland, is as a curator and producer based in Berlin working in the field of media art and performance and was educated at Dublin University Trinity College in Economics and Social Studies.

He is also one of the founders of LEAP (Lab for Electronic Arts and Performance), a non-profit interdisciplinary project for emerging, digital media arts and performance that aims to initiate the dialogue between art, science and technology. LEAP’s central concept is based on experimental research in digital technologies and media, which shape and change our present and future society and stimulate new discourses, discussions and questions. The human being (or body) is thus in performative interaction with these technologies and their impact on society and culture. It stands in a transformative process with its environment and thus is prompted to challenge the limits of its exterior and interior. LEAP’s conceptual and substantive program deals with the discussion of new discourses, critical issues and provides a bridge between theory and practice. In September 2013 LEAP presented Art Hack Day Berlin ‘’Going Dark’’ the first in a two part organisational and curatorial collaboration between transmediale, Art Hack Day and LEAP which culminates in the festivals central exhibition Art Hack Day Berlin : Afterglow.

With a background in cultural production and project management he previously worked as producer at the Dublin Fringe Festival and internationally as an independent curator. His curatorial interests lie in the role of the physical body in the post digital age.

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