Otto Piene was a German artist specializing in kinetic and technology-based art. He was founder, with Heinz Mack and Günther Uecker, of the ZERO group. Piene received the Sculpture Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, in 1996, and the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts in 2003. He represented Germany at the Venice Biennale in 1967 and 1971.