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in front of each section for an annotated version (does not include all sources).
Collaboration |
GENERAL ART, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - ANNOTATED
Amy, M. "Robert Rauschenberg: la retrospective [Robert Rauschenberg: the
retrospective]." Art et Culture 12(10): 46-7.
Examines the art of the American artist Robert Rauschenberg (b.1925) on the
occasion of the travelling exhibition of his work on show at the Museum Ludwig
in Cologne (27 June-11 Oct. 1998). The author discusses the wide range of Rauschenberg's
creativity, from the monochrome paintings of the 1950s, inspired by Malevich
and Rodchenko, through the mixed-media paintings comprising painting, collage
and objets trouves, to his work with the engineer Billy Kluwer on EAT (Experiments
in Art and Technology), incorporating sound and music into abstract sculptures.
He notes that the exhibition is the first Rauschenberg retrospective to be held
in Europe and comments on the range and number of works selected.
Archer, M., Simon Morrissey, Harry Stocks (2001). Richard Wilson. London, Merrell
Publishers.
Traces the career of the British installation artist Richard Wilson, observing
his use of large-scale and unusual components in his art. The authors describe
his 20:50 comprising sump oil on permanent display at the Saatchi Collection
in London, discuss Slice of Reality, a cross-section of a dredger sited on the
Thames in Greenwich, London, and consider Set North for Japan, which is a full-scale
copy of the artist's house located in Japan. They present drawings and scale
models by Wilson, examine his collaborative projects involving architects and
engineers, and study 50 works of art created over 20 years.
Ayers, R. "S(t)imulations: Stelarc."
In interview, the Cypriot performance artist Stelarc (b.1946), who is based
in Australia, discusses his current projects exploring technological interaction
at intimate levels between people. He counters objections to the research, and
describes his previous experience of robotic extensions and progress on the
Movatar motion prosthesis for the Intelligent Avatar project. He comments on
the requirement of an audience for his work on multiple interfaces for the human
body, outlines the main centres of his practice and sources of funding, with
particular reference to the Exoskeleton machine (1999; illus.), explains the
background and dynamics of the Extended Arm (2000; illus.), and concludes by
revealing the locomotion pattern of the Radical Robot design, created in collaboration
with the British researchers Barry Smith and Inman Harvey.
Berleant, A. "A Report on the American Association for the Advancement
of Science (Aaas) 1976 Symposium 'Art, Science and Technology in Shaping the
Environment of the Future'." Leonardo 9(3): 211-12.
Summaries of the content of the following papers presented at this symposium:
'conditions for artists' involvement in shaping the environment' by billy kluver
in which projects undertaken by the group 'experiments in art and technology'
were described; 'the role of perception in social and economic change' by edmund
n. bacon, in which it is emphasized that a new understanding of the universe
is required for better use of the environment; gyorgy kepes on 'art and the
public environment' which called for appreciation of modern industrial man's
need for aesthetic satisfaction in the environment. the papers were discussed
by philosophers specializing in environmental aesthetics, including curtis carter,
rolf-dieter herrmann, and hilde hein. finally kepes lectured on the theme of
the symposium.
Bernstein, D. W., C. Hatch, et al., Eds. Writings through John Cage's music,
poetry, and art.
Examines the work of the American composer John Cage (1912-92), with reference
to the conference `Here comes everybody: the music, poetry and art of John Cage'
held at Mills College in Oakland, California (15-19 Nov. 1995). There are 13
essays. Bernstein reappraises the relationship between Cage's work and 20th
century modernism. Jonathan D. Katz interprets Cage's silence on his homosexuality
as involving a moral stance. With reference to 4' 33'', Austin Clarkson examines
Cage's understanding of spirituality as rooted in psychology. The composer and
performer Gordon Mumma documents Cage's work as a performer. Deborah Campana
analyses his concept of musical time from his early percussion and prepared
piano pieces onwards. John Holzaepfel examines David Tudor's rendering of Solo
for Piano from Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1957-58). Paul van Emmerik,
a cataloguer of material relating to Cage, explains the importance of studying
Cage's source material. In a symposium, former colleagues of Cage - Mumma, Allan
Kaprow, James Tenney, Christian Wolff, Alvin Curran, and Maryanne Amacher -
reflect on aspects of his work. In a second symposium, James Pritchett, Tenney,
Andrew Culver, and Frances White consider Cage's use of computers and ongoing
influence on computer art. Jackson Mac Low surveys Cage's writings in the 1980s,
discussing his methods and influences on his written work. Constance Lewallen
considers Cage's use of chance and his practice of asking questions when making
art. The founder of the Mountain Lake Workshop in West Virginia, Ray Kass provides
an account of Cage's activities there, including his methods as a painter. Henning
Lohner documents some aspects of the making of the film One, on which he collaborated
with Cage between 1982 and 1992.
Bolter, J. D. and D. Gromala (2003). Windows and Mirrors : Interaction Design,
Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency. Cambridge, MIT Press.
In Windows and Mirrors: Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency,
Jay David Bolter and Diane Gromala argue that, contrary to Donald Norman's famous
dictum, we do not always want our computers to be invisible "information
appliances." They say that a computer does not feel like a toaster or a
vacuum cleaner; it feels like a medium that is now taking its place beside other
media like printing, film, radio, and television. The computer as medium creates
new forms and genres for artists and designers; Bolter and Gromala want to show
what digital art has to offer to Web designers, education technologists, graphic
artists, interface designers, HCI experts, and, for that matter, anyone interested
in the cultural implications of the digital revolution.
Brown, K. and N. Salvatore "Trends in computer and technological art."
Art Criticism 14: 94-106.
Surveys trends in the use of technology in the creation of art in the 1990s.
The authors discuss the characteristic features of technology-based art, and
identify as general trends in the use of technology in art: as a means of exploring
the construction of the self and notions of self identity; simply as a source
of design tools for the creation of art; to illustrate and analyse the impact
of technology on contemporary everyday life; and as a means of creating art
that is interactive in ways not otherwise possible. Artists whose work is described
include: Joseph Squier, Linda Dement, Orlan, Laurie Anderson, John Lasseter,
Victoria Vesna, Anthony Aziz, Ray MacDonald, Sammy Cucher, Rene Ertzinger, Jenny
Holzer, Ingo Gunther, Antonio Muntadas, Regina Frank, Perry Hoberman, Char Davies,
Sheldon Brown, and Krzysztof Wodiczko. Work described includes interactive computer
pieces, Web sites, film animation, digital photography, virtual reality pieces,
performance, video installations, interactive video installations, and art generated
by computers themselves using formulae provided by the artist-programmer.
Bureaud, A. "Eduardo Kac defricheur et visionnaire/e. e. cummings of the
virtual [Eduardo Kac ground-breaker and visionary/e. e. cummings of the virtual]."
Art Press 246: 34-5.
Traces the career of the Brazilian-born artist Eduardo Kac (b.1962). The author
notes the range of media in which Kac specializes, including performance art,
Web-based art, robotics and biotechnology-inspired work, attributes the invention
of holopoetry, telepresence, and biotelematics to Kac, and outlines the creation
of his first holography-based poems. She describes his creation in collaboration
with Ed Bennet of Orinintorrinco, a robot controlled by telephone, and of the
telepresence work Orintorrinco, considers this treatment of the body and space
as the main themes in his work, and comments on his Teleporting of an Unknown
State (1996), which involves a seed sprouting after receiving daylight through
a Web-cam on the Internet. She concludes by asserting that Kac unites technology
and aesthetics through his invention of new art media.
Clark, N. (1995). "N + 1 cultures." Art & Text 50: 69.
A review of "N + 1 Cultures," an exhibition at the Artspace, Auckland,
New Zealand, from October 12 to November 4, 1994. This show consists of the
work of four artists and one scientist (as essayist): Esther Leigh, Giovanni
Intra, Vicki Kerr, Denise Kum, and entomologist Robin Craw. The theme of this
show is the relationship between art and science; its initial impression, however,
is one of strangely recalcitrant scientific stereotyping.
Cleland, K. "Interface: visions of the body and the machine." ART
AsiaPacific: 70-5.
Discusses the integration of new technology into art practices in Australia
and New Zealand with reference to five artists. The author considers work by
the New Zealand artist Maureen Lander, noting her integration of lighting, audio-visual
technology and modern synthetic materials into traditional Maori cultural forms,
and discusses her collaboration with the New Zealand artist John Fairclough
for Digital String Games (1998; illus.). She describes the work of the Australian
artist Justine Cooper who uses technological elements including MRI scans, x-rays
and microscopy to portray the interior dynamics of the body, and considers works
by the Hong Kong-born Canberra-based artist Juliana Wong, with reference to
her interest in interactivity, holography, the relationship between physical,
virtual and psychological spaces, and language play. She concludes by discussing
the work of the Australian artist Melinda Rackham, who uses technology to explore
themes including sexuality, gender and identity.
Coupland, K. "All over the map with David Byrne." Graphis 313: 92-9.
In interview, the American artist and musician David Byrne discusses his work.
Byrne comments on his interweaving of music and design, explains the idea and
production process behind the packaging for his latest recording, with reference
to models made by Yuji Yoshimoto, and considers the recurring use of dolls in
his work. He outlines the ideas that must be communicated on a record or CD
cover, describes his collaborations with the graphic designers Stefan Sagmeister
and Gary Koepke, and assesses the role of the costumes he wears on stage in
his performances. Byrne discusses the collaborative process and his approach
to photography, comments on his book of photographs entitled Strange Ritual
and on the conjunction of photographs and text, and concludes by outlining his
use of computer technology.
Cox, D. J. (1992). "Caricature, readymades and metamorphosis: visual mathematics
in the context of art." Leonardo 25(3-4): 295-302.
Discusses issues regarding visual mathematics and mainstream art in relation
to the art market and popular culture in the context of the author's computer-animation
work. In the U.S.A. mathematics and computer art forms remain outside the mainstream
fine-art market, and the author's work, an interdisciplinary collaborative animation
Venus & Milo, was created as a commentary on high art versus low art. The
piece included `topological homotopy', filmmaking techniques and caricature.
Drucker, J. "Janet Zweig, Simon Penny, Jonathan Harris, Paul Zelevansky,
Dew Harrison, Eduardo Kac, Jon Ippolito." Art Journal 56(3): 14-19.
Describes the work of seven artists - Janet Zweig, Simon Penny, Jonathan Harris,
Paul Zelevansky, Dew Harrison, Eduardo Kac and Jon Ippolito - who use different
technologies as an integral part of their work. Zweig creates mechanical constructions
involving computers which are fed text which they manipulate, then output to
paper. Penny builds robotic systems that incorporate sensors and bend and gyrate
in an anthropomorphic fashion, and his art explores the implications of such
works for aesthetic appreciation. Harris has produced a series of digitally
manipulated works involving snapshots of him and his family on holiday and the
text of a letter he wrote to his dead grandparents as part of a therapeutic
exercise. Zelevansky's work adopts a cross-media approach to the production
of computer-based pedagogic systems, including interactive computer works exploring
such topics as mythology and human biology. Harrison explores the potential
of hypermedia in the context of the personal computer as an educational tool
and a means of artistic expression. Writer and artist Kac has used hypertext
to produce works that combine literature with visual art, and communications
technology in conjunction with robotics in collaborative projects spanning geographical
distances. Ippolito uses the Internet as a forum for works he creates in collaboration
with Janet Cohen and Keith Frank which explore the process of collaboration
itself.
Druckrey, T., Ed. (1994). Iterations: The New Image. Cambridge, MIT Press.
Digital imaging and computer technology have come to permeate our daily experience.
From graphic images in bank machines to Hollywood movies awash in high-tech
special effects, from advanced scientific visualization to personal digital
assistants, the electronic image has changed the way our culture perceives itself
and receives its information. A technology that is used throughout culture as
a tool for communication, documentation, and creativity has placed itself squarely
in the center of our lives. Simply stated, the computer is everywhere, having
an impact on nearly everything. Copublished with The International Center of
Photography, New York.
Druckrey, T., Ed. (1997). Electronic Culture; Technology; Technology and Visual
Representation. New York, Aperture.
The technology of representation and imaging has undergone vast changes. Imaging
technologies can now create representations of high-tech warfare, manifest virtual
reality, or visualize an atom. This series of essays by philosophers, media
theorists, and cultural critics carefully examines these advances and grants
special attention to the digital explosion of the 90s. Essays cover everything
from the limits of photographic representation in the time of digital imaging
to a filmmaker's thoughts on immersive environments. This is not light reading
and many essays have an academic tone, but it's an important work for those
interested in new media and technologies
Graham, B. (2003). "Conference: User Mode." Art Monthly 267: 37.
A report on the "user_mode: Emotion and Intuition in Art and Design"
conference, held at Tate Modern and the Science Museum, London, May 9-11, 2003.
The conference examined "emotion and intuition in art and design"
and, as such, bridged the gap between physical and online new-media art. It
also courageously crossed between art, science, education, research, and design,
which have it the mildly deranged charm that is lacking in the usual line-up
of normalized theorists and artists. Over the three days, the means of dealing
mentally with the incredibly diversity seemed to evolve collaboratively, which
was no mean feat for an ambitious symposium.
Grau, O. (2003). Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion. Cambridge, MIT Press.
Although many people view virtual reality as a totally new phenomenon, it has
its foundations in an unrecognized history of immersive images. Indeed, the
search for illusionary visual space can be traced back to antiquity. In this
book Oliver Grau shows how virtual art fits into the art history of illusion
and immersion. He describes the metamorphosis of the concepts of art and the
image and relates those concepts to interactive art, interface design, agents,
telepresence, and image evolution. Grau retells art history as media history,
helping us to understand the phenomenon of virtual reality beyond the hype.
Grau shows how each epoch used the technical means available to produce maximum
illusion. He discusses frescoes such as those in the Villa dei Misteri in Pompeii
and the gardens of the Villa Livia near Primaporta, Renaissance and Baroque
illusion spaces, and panoramas, which were the most developed form of illusion
achieved through traditional methods of painting and the mass image medium before
film. Through a detailed analysis of perhaps the most important German panorama,
Anton von Werner's 1883 The Battle of Sedan, Grau shows how immersion produced
emotional responses. He traces immersive cinema through Cinerama, Sensorama,
Expanded Cinema, 3-D, Omnimax and IMAX, and the head mounted display with its
military origins. He also examines those characteristics of virtual reality
that distinguish it from earlier forms of illusionary art. His analysis draws
on the work of contemporary artists and groups ART+COM, Maurice Benayoun, Charlotte
Davies, Monika Fleischmann, Ken Goldberg, Agnes Hegedues, Eduardo Kac, Knowbotic
Research, Laurent Mignonneau, Michael Naimark, Simon Penny, Daniela Plewe, Paul
Sermon, Jeffrey Shaw, Karl Sims, Christa Sommerer, and Wolfgang Strauss. Grau
offers not just a history of illusionary space but also a theoretical framework
for analyzing its phenomenologies, functions, and strategies throughout history
and into the future.
Hight, C. "Christopher Hight: dangerous liaisons - the art of engineering
after truth and beauty." M'Ars 13: 21-9.
Discusses the relationship between visual art and engineering, with reference
to the British firm Atelier One. The author highlights Atelier One's technological
innovation and collaborative work with artists, and considers the contrast between
`culture', such as visual art, and `nature', such as science and engineering.
He describes Atelier One's construction of the installation Taratantara (1999;
illus.) by the British artist Anish Kapoor, and the British artist Rachel Whiteread's
House (1993; illus.) and Ghost, and comments on the notion of interdisciplinary
work.
Holtzman, S. R. (1998). Digital Mosaics: The Aesthetics of Cyberspace. New
York, Simon & Schuster.
Digital Mosaics is the first book to explore the new digital media and the variety
of art forms emerging from our computer culture. It is destined to change our
traditional perceptions and definitions of digital expression. Through the works
of cutting-edge computer artists, composers, and designers, Digital Mosaics
explores the possibilities of the digital medium and how it radically transforms
the way art is produced and understood by the audience. Presenting an astonishing
collection of examples, Digital Mosaics illuminates the qualities that make
digital expression different from all previous artistic endeavors. From his
discussion of the changing meaning of "original" art -- digital creations
are at once infinitely reproducible and essentially ephemeral -- to his insights
into the impact this kind of art has on the relationship between artist and
audience, Steven Holtzman gives readers an unprecedented look at the new aesthetic
that is laying the groundwork for the digital and art worlds of our future.
Hovagimyan, G. H. "Art in the age of spiritual machines (with apologies
to Ray Kurzweil)." Leonardo 34: 453-8.
Considers what forms art may take in the age of the post-human being or spiritual
machine. The author, an artist who specializes in the area of digital media
and network culture, cites the work of the French artist Orlan and the Australian
artist Stelarc as examples of art already concerned with human enhancement in
aesthetic and bio-technological terms respectively, and describes his own collaboration
with Peter Sinclair on an immersive sound environment entitled Heartbreak Hotel
(illus.), which explores the subject of spiritual machines. He highlights the
traditional interest of art in the human condition, identifies affinities between
the creation of art and computer simulations, and relates his ideas on the artistic
simulation of artificial intelligence to earlier forms of experimental art,
such as that practised by Bruce Nauman and Robert Morris. He proposes that the
artistic debate should henceforth centre on networked culture, and concludes
by acknowledging that future art might not resemble art as such, and would no
longer be object-based but experimental and progressive in nature.
Hutzler, G., B. Gortais, et al. "The Garden of Chances: a visual ecosystem."
Leonardo 33: 101-6.
The authors, all based in France, describe a project on which they have collaborated
to develop a multi-agent computer system based on natural ecosystems entitled
The Garden of Chances and their use of it to create visual images. They explain
that the system involves the input of meteorological data recorded at a specific
location in England, which is downloaded into the computer in real-time via
the Internet, and which affects the development of shapes and their colours
projected onto the screen of that computer, describing how these shapes function
in the same way as plants in a real ecosystem, with each shape functioning as
the visible emanation of some agent reacting to the meteorological data being
fed into the computer. The authors outline the complexities of designing such
a reactive, multi-agent system and draw parallels between the resulting art
and their artistic intentions in creating The Garden of Chance, and abstract
art and the artistic intentions of Kandinsky. They explain the philosophy underlying
the art work generated by The Garden of Chance, describe how this was realized
in the design and implementation of the underlying computer system, and outline
their plans to develop it as a tool that will help scientists and artists to
consider complex systems from both organizational and aesthetic perspectives.
A glossary of terms is appended.
Huws, U. (2000). "Nature, technology and art: the emergence of a new relationship?"
Leonardo 33(1): 33-40.
The emergence of a new relationship between nature, technology, and art is discussed.
Twentieth-century art has produced occasional and sporadic experiments to represent,
comment on, or simulate nature in an artistic form as behavior rather than likeness.
A small but largely neglected group of artists, including the Artist Robot Group
in Toronto, Canada, has opted to use computer to model or set in motion patterns
of behavior that, through analogy or mimicry, can parallel those found in the
natural world and give rise to the responses of surprise, insight, amusement,
or delight that are evoked by observing other forms of life. While artists,
including Rebecca Allen and Ebon Fisher, have moved closer to the world of computing
in their quest for newer and subtler ways to model, parody, or comment on the
natural world's behavior, computer scientists have been meeting them halfway
in attempts to simulate natural processes, which have come to be described as
artificial life.
Jones, C. A. and P. L. Galison, Eds. (1998). Picturing Science Producing Art.
London, Routledge.
Between the disciplines of art history and the history of science lies a growing
field of inquiry into what science and art share as both image-making and knowledge-producing
activities. The contributors of Picturing Science, Producing Art occupy this
intermediate zone to analyze both scientific and aesthetic representations,
utilizing disciplinary perspectives that range from art history to sociology,
history and philosophy of science to gender studies, cultural history to the
philosophy of mind. Organized in five sites--Styles, The Body, Seeing Wonders,
Objectivity/Subjectivity, and Cultures of Vision--their topics extend from Cinquecento
theories of female reproduction to the technologies of cloning, from medieval
depictions of the stigmata to electrical metaphors for sex, from astronomical
drawings to radioencephalography, from Phoenician griffons carved in ivory to
factories cast in concrete. The internationally renowned contributors go beyond
both science wars and culture wars by exploring substantive links between systems
of visual representation and knowledge in science and art. Contributors include
Svetlana Alpers, Jonathan Crary, Arnold Davidson, Carlo Ginzburg, Donna Haraway,
Bruno Latour, and Simon Schaffer.
Jones, S. (2003). "Synthetics: A History of the Electronically Generated
Image in Australia." Leonardo 36(3): 187-95, 199.
Part of a special section on the cultural roots of globalization. The writer,
a video artist, briefly surveys the early years of computer-graphic and video-synthesizer-driven
image production in Australia. He opens with a discussion of the first (known)
Australian data visualization, in 1957, and proceeds through the compositing
of computer graphics and video effects in the music videos of the late 1980s.
He goes on to survey the types of work produced by workers on the computer-graphics
and video-synthesis systems of the early period and draws out some indications
of the influences and interactions among artists and engineers and the technical
systems available to them, which guided the evolution of the field for artistic
production.
Kirkpatrick, D. "Sonia Landy Sheridan." Woman's Art Journal 1(1):
56-9.
Traces the career of printmaker and draughtsman sonia landy sheridan (b.1925),
best known for her work with copy-machine imaging systems. in 1970 sheridan
founded the generative systems programme at the school of the art institute
of chicago, illinois, to explore the creative possibilities of new technologies.
she believes that artists must take the lead in helping people use technology
creatively to keep control of their lives and their world.
Kuebel, C. K. and B. Delaney "Ars Electronica 2001: impact?" Art
New England 23(1): 22-3.
A review of the 2001 Ars Electronica festival, held in Linz, Austria. Assembling
many important artists, scientists, and thinkers, this year's festival had the
theme of "TAKEOVER: who is making the art of tomorrow?" Fashion photographer
Oliviero Toscani's presentation was one of only a few that seemed to address
the theme with any guts. Most participants focused on who is doing the art of
tomorrow. There were many inspiring examples of technologically enhanced art
whose influence on culture will be important.
Lasay, F. "Geo/centr/e/i/city: the Earth as Center." Leonardo 35:
233-8.
Discusses the Web-based exhibition Geo/centr/e/i/city: the Earth as Center (http://www.fineartforum.org/Gallery/2001/geocentricity
/), in which seven Filipino digital artists created works focusing on island
folklore surrounding volcanoes and earthquakes. The author notes that the artists
met with scientists at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
before the start of the exhibition, explains how the various areas of work at
the Institute provided material for the artists, in particular the Active Faults
Mapping research, and argues that the subsequent exhibition enabled artists
and audiences to see scientific visualizations as art. She concludes by discussing
works by four of the artists: Gulo sa Bahay (household chaos) (2001; illus.)
by Aileen Familara; Asuang Steals Fire from Gurugang (2001; illus.) by Al Manrique;
Angolo and Anarabrab (2001; illus.) by Ferdinand Doctolero; and her own work
Heaven and Earth (2001; illus.).
Leggett, M. "Drawing the thread." Artlink 21(3): 34-7.
Considers the relationship between drawing and technology. The author focuses
on drawing works and projects by the artists Paul Thomas, Harriet Birks, Alyssa
Rothwell, Mr Snow, Peter Callas, Harold Cohen, Simon Biggs, Horst Kiechle, John
Tchalenko, and Damien Everett, noting their views on traditional and digital
drawing with reference to issues including spatial drawing, software development,
architectural design, and performance art. He concludes by focusing on the ways
in which the Internet enables collaboration between artists working with different
digital drawing techniques.
Leopoldseder, H. and C. Schopf, Eds. (2001). CyberArts 2001. New York, Springer
Verlag.
Presents works from marts, science, and research from the categories Computer
Animation/Visual effects, Digital Musics, Interactive Art and .net on a common
platform thus providing a current survey of the international scene of digital
media art. Over the past twenty years the extensive digitalization of every
area of life has triggered a profound cultural transformation. For twenty years
the Ars Electronica Festival has been discussing, analyzing and commenting this
transformation. Since 1987 the Prix Ars Electronica has brought together the
creative forces that formulate its foundations and make this discourse accessible
to a wider audience with their works. Numerous individual articles together
with extensive illustrations and a comprehensive list of addresses contribute
towards making the book "Cyberarts 99" one of the most up-to-date
publications as well as reference works for those interested in media art
Leopoldseder, H., C. Schopf, et al., Eds. (1997). Cyberarts. New York, Springer-Verlag.
Presents submissions from participants from around the world to the annual Prix
Ars Electronica in the categories of `.net', `interactive art', `computer animation',
and `computer music'. There are eight essays, of which five are relevant to
the scope of ABM, and statements by participants about their work. Leopoldseder
assesses cyberart as the art of the future. Schopf surveys the winners of the
Golden Nicas of the Prix Ars Electronica 1997, which in the category of interactive
art was awarded to Toshio Iwai and Ryuichi Sakamoto for Music Plays Images X
Images Plays Music, and in the category computer animation was awarded to Scott
Squires for special effects in Dragonheart. Joichi Ito discusses the aesthetics
of the Internet. Machiko Kusahara considers the new opportunities for making
art offered by computers and telecommunications. Michael Naimark describes his
favourite four works of interactive art of the past 30 years.
Livingstone, M. "Built enviroments." tate: the art magazine 28: 42-9.
In interview, the British artists Langlands and Bell, who have collaborated
since 1978, discuss their work. They describe their first joint project, The
Kitchen (1978; col. illus.), an old kitchen reconstructed from material salvaged
from derelict buildings in London's East End, juxtaposed with its brand new
equivalent, and explain their subsequent decision to scale down their work and
use architectural models, highlighting installations that have evaded this move,
such as Surrounding Time (1990) and the Billboard Sculptures (1992-95). They
note the reference to the National Gallery in London in Traces of Living (1986),
outline their interactions with architects and engineers, and justify their
interest in buildings designed for diplomatic and strategic purposes. They consider
the sculpture Eclipse (1998; col. illus.), created for the Henry Moore Institute
in Leeds, England, and comment on modernist design and architecture, and the
British art scene. They explore the impact which the events of 11 Sept. 2001
have had on some of their works, with particular reference to New York-Mecca
(Dyptich) (1996; illus.).
Lucie-Smith, E. and P. Lafuente "Paris: reinventing `la ville' - survivors
of the siecle." Art Review 53: 45-7.
In a series of articles dedicated to the art scene in Paris, examines the work
of artists working in the city from 1968 to today. The author profiles Jean
Dubuffet (1901-85), listing his exhibitions and noting his support of Art Brut,
explains that Dubuffet and other older French artists including Jean Fautrier
eclipsed their younger counterparts in the second half of the 20th century,
and compares French art from the 1960s unfavourably with American Pop art from
the same period. He acknowledges the role of Cesar and other French artists
who were commissioned by the state in the 1980s in ``reconciling a large public
to contemporary art'', refers to the work of Pierre et Gilles, Christian Boltanski,
and Sophie Calle, and concludes by highlighting the significant absence of painting
on the contemporary Paris art scene. In an insert, Lafuente discusses collaborations
between contemporary French artists, designers, architects, scientists, musicians,
and theorists, focusing on works highlighted in the exhibition Traversees at
the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Lunenfeld, P. "In search of the telephone opera: from communications to
art." Afterimage 25(1): 8-10.
Considers the potential of the Internet and related computerized communications
networks as a medium for culture. The author explains that the Internet has
attracted significant interest from artists due to its power as a communications
medium and draws historical parallels between the Internet and the use by culture
providers of the telephone in the 20th century such as Dada artists' proposals
for using the telephone to convey images, as in Laszlo Moholy-Nagy's Telephonbilder
(1922) experiment and Allen S. Bridge's 1980 Apology Line in New York City.
He identifies two methods regularly used by artists to create work using the
Internet as both a medium and as an integrated component. The first, called
the Exquisite Corpse, involves producing work that is intended to be incorporated
into random collaborations with the Internet-based work of other artists, and
the second, the Digital Questionnaire, involves soliciting data from other Internet
users, which is then used as the basis for art works. He observes the emerging
trend which involves the production of work that addresses the specific nature
of the Internet, and includes works that, in avant-garde fashion, attempt to
block its use as a communications medium, and works which use the Html code
that defines Web pages as a visual element.
Lutticken, S. "The footprint and the readymade." Afterimage 29(1):
4-5.
Examines the relationship between photography and realism, with particular reference
to the notion of the ready-made. The author comments on Jay David Bolter and
Richard Grusin's book Remediation (Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: MIT Press,
1999), explores the notion of the footprint as art, with reference to the views
of Lev Manovich, Charles Sanders Pierce, and Roland Barthes, and discusses the
mimetic role of photography in the work of the American photographer Walker
Evans. He considers the development of the ready-made, with reference to Marcel
Duchamp's Fountain (1917) and Evans's volume Pictures of the Time, describes
Duchamp's sculpture Torture-Morte (1959; illus.), highlighting the association
of photography and ready-mades in this piece, and Evans's Bedroom in the Burrough's
House, Hale County, Alabama (1936), and notes Duchamp's desire to develop an
intellectual form of art. He focuses on attempts by artists including Cindy
Sherman and Jeff Wall to overcome the association of photography with documentation,
and concludes by citing the artist Gerhard Richter's views on the reflection
of society in art, and considering the possible future development of photography.
Lynn, V. "Jennifer Turpin and Michaelie Crawford: the choreography of
time, light and water." Art and Australia 39: 238-47.
Discusses the work of the Australian artists Jennifer Turpin and Michaelie Crawford.
The author discusses the incorporation of water in Turpin and Crawford's environmental
and kinetic works, refers to their early careers in installation and sculpture,
and comments on their decision to collaborate and their aim of achieving simplicity.
She considers the relationship between the aesthetic and the ecological in their
work, highlighting The Memory Line (1996; illus.) and Tied to Tide (1999; illus.),
and suggests that they are influenced by the work of Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943).
She notes their work with the building industry, the sciences, and industrial
design, describes their proposal Sailing the Tide, a monumental kinetic sculpture
for Auckland Viaduct Harbour, and compares their work with that of Donald Judd,
Carl Andre, and Tony Smith. She places their work within the context of the
kinetic and sculptural traditions, referring to the work of Laszlo Moholy-Nagy,
Jean Tinguely, and Rebecca Horn, comments on the form, sound, and movement of
Water Works IV (1992; illus.), Tank (1997; illus.), and Water Swing (2000; illus.),
and concludes by stating that their work provokes contemplation.
Malina, R. F. and B. Wands "The stone age of the digital arts; Director's
statement: a moment in time; Exhibiting artists." Leonardo 35(5): 463-6.
Introduces a special issue of Leonardo devoted to the 10th New York Digital
Salon and lists the names and addresses of exhibiting artists. Malina, executive
editor of Leonardo, discusses the history of computer artists and describes
a workshop in July 2002 at the Schloss Dagstuhl Centre in Wadern, Germany on
aesthetic computing. He observes that the digital arts are still at a very early
stage and that their future will depend more on the inspiration produced by
new technologies rather than the technologies themselves. Wands, director of
the New York Digital Salon, discusses how the 10th exhibition, Vectors: Digital
Art of Our Time, differs from the usual format, and argues that it is the first
international review of digital art. He describes how 10 international curators
were asked to each pick 10 works, and concludes by detailing the four phases
of the project: publication of the Leonardo special issue; the Web site; the
New York exhibition; and the international tour. Details of the exhibiting artists
include their names, addresses, and Web sites. The featured artists are: 01.org
(Alessandra Ghidoni), Benjamin Weil, Vivian Selbo, and Andrea Scott, Robert
Adrian, Mathieu Briand, the Bureau of Inverse Technology, John Cage, Shane Cooper,
Vuk Cosic, Chris Cunningham, Char Davies, Anthony Discenza, Dumb Type, etoy.corporation,
Masaki Fujihata, Alex Galloway and RSG, Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz,
Syd Garon, Kenneth Goldsmith, Entropy8Zuper!, Lynn Hershman, Perry Hoberman,
Pierre Huyghe, I/O /D (Matthew Fuller, Colin Green, and Simon Pope), Ryoji Ikeda,
Toshio Iwai, JODI, Paul Johnson and RSG, Eduardo Kac, Hachiya Kazuhiko, John
Klima, Knowbotic Research, Joan La Barbara, George Legrady, Bernhard Leitner,
Olia Lialina, David Link, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Christian Marclay, Thomas McIntosh
and Emmanuel Madan ([The User]), Paul D. Miller, Laurent Mignonneau and Christa
Sommerer, Mongrel/Graham Harwood, Antoni Muntadas, Mark Napier, Shirin Neshat,
Carsten Nicolai, Josh On, Nam June Paik, Garth Paine, Chris Petit, Markus Popp
a.k.a. Oval, Cecile le Prado, Walid Ra'ad, Jean-Claude Risset, Pipilotti Rist,
David Rokeby, Nicolas Schoffer, Gebhard Sengmuller, John F. Simon, Jr, Sponge,
Morton Subotnick, Atau Tanaka, Daniel Teruggi, David S. Touretzky, Marek Walczak,
Martin Wattenberg, Hildegard Westerkamp, Trevor Wishart, and Maciej Wisniewski.
Malloy, J., Ed. (2003). Women, Art, and Technology. Cambridge, MIT Press.
Text is a compendium of the work of women artists who have played a central
role in the development of new media practice. Includes overviews of the history
and foundations of the field, classic papers by women working in art and technology,
and a series of critical essays looking to the future. Illustrated. Malloy is
an electronic fiction and Internet pioneer and editor of the electronic publication
Arts Wire Current. Although women have been at the forefront of art and technology
creation, no source has adequately documented their core contributions to the
field. Women, Art, and Technology, which originated in a Leonardo journal project
of the same name, is a compendium of the work of women artists who have played
a central role in the development of new media practice. The book includes overviews
of the history and foundations of the field by, among others, artists Sheila
Pinkel and Kathy Brew; classic papers by women working in art and technology;
papers written expressly for this book by women whose work is currently shaping
and reshaping the field; and a series of critical essays that look to the future.
Artist contributors include computer graphics artists Rebecca Allen and Donna
Cox; video artists Dara Birnbaum, Joan Jonas, Valerie Soe, and Steina Vasulka;
composers Cecile Le Prado, Pauline Oliveros, and Pamela Z; interactive artists
Jennifer Hall and Blyth Hazen, Agnes Hegedus, Lynn Hershman, and Sonya Rapoport;
virtual reality artists Char Davies and Brenda Laurel; net artists Anna Couey,
Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss, Nancy Paterson, and Sandy Stone; and
choreographer Dawn Stoppiello. Critics include Margaret Morse, Jaishree Odin,
Patric Prince, and Zoe Sofia.
Mann, S. (2003). "Intelligent Bathroom Fixtures and Systems: EXISTech
Corporation's Safebath Project." Leonardo 36(4): 207-210.
EXISTech Corporation’scomputer networks, controlsystems and image-sensortechnology
facilitate hygienictouchless control of plumbingxtures. Two of EXISTech’ssensors
are described here indetail: an active infrared faucetsensor and a passive infraredauto
ush sensor. These devicesallow internetworked plumbingsystems to help facility
man-agers and law-enforcementpersonnel remotely monitor theoperation of bathroomxtures.
Intelligent xtures andsystems based on quantimetricsensing technology enhance
theprivacy of law-abiding users byeliminating the need for invasivepolicing
of restrooms. Newcomputer-vision algorithms alsoautomatically detect accidents,as
well as vandalism andcontraband disposal, to assistremote monitoring by lawenforcement.
Mitchell, W. J. "`Fast forward'." Art Papers 22(4): 20-3.
In interview, William J. Mitchell, Professor of Architecture and Media Arts
and Sciences, and Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, discusses his career
to date, with particular reference to his work on digital media applied to architecture
and design. He traces the roots of his interest in Computer Aided Design (CAD),
and assesses the impact of digital technology on architectural practice, quoting
as an example Frank Gehry's design for the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Bilbao,
Spain. He considers the integration of computer technology in the educational
system and acknowledges the increasing importance of visual skills in the contemporary
world. He examines the benefits and drawbacks of geographically distributed,
Internet-based projects such as the one which was used by students at MIT to
collaborate with students from the Lisbon Institute of Technology and the School
of Architecture in Oporto, Portugal, and concludes by considering the future
of digital telecommunication.
Moser, M. A. and D. Macleod, Eds. (1996). Immersed in Technology; Art and Virtual
Environments. Cambridge, MIT Press.
Virtual Reality, like many technologies in their infancy, was not developed
with a singular purpose in mind, and still lacks a fixed raison d'etre. Seizing
the moment, the writers and artists in this book have taken a rare initiative
by proposing a host of creative forms and ideas for the multifunctional use
of virtual environments." -- Andrew Ross, Director, American Studies Program,
and Professor of Comparative Literature, New York University
The Banff Centre for the Arts has become synonymous for what's hot in the electronic
arts, a place where professional artists come to produce new work and develop
new skills. This book brings together critical essays along with artists' projects
to explore the many issues raised by the creation of virtual environments and
to provide a glimpse into worlds that have been much discussed but rarely seen.
The book opens with eleven essays that approach the social and cultural implications
of cyberspace from the perspective of cultural studies, communications, art
history, art criticism, English, and women's studies. These are followed by
nine virtual environments (along with statements of what the artists are trying
to accomplish in both theoretical and technical terms), created over a three-year
period as part of the Art and Virtual Environments Project at the Banff Centre.
Together, writers and artists examine the consequences in cyberspace for race
and identity, materiality and the body, landscape and narrative. Specific implications
of the masculinist and rationalist biases of cyberspace are also discussed.
Preface: Douglas MacLeod. Introduction: Mary Anne Moser. Essays: N. Katherine
Hayles. Cameron Bailey. Nell Tenhaaf. Frances Dyson. Allucquère Rosanne
Stone. Avital Ronell. Rob Milthorp. Jeanne Randolph. Loretta Todd. Margaret
Morse. Erkki Huhtamo. Artworks: Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. Michael Scroggins
and Steven Dickson. Marcos Novak. Michael Naimark. Brenda Laurel and Rachel
Strickland. Perry Hoberman. Ron Kuivila. Diane Gromala and Yacov Sharir. Toni
Dove and Michael Mackenzie. Will Bauer and Steven Gibson. A Leonardo Book
Oppenheimer, R. "Art.com." Afterimage 26(5): 3.
Reports on the California Governor's Conference on the Arts held in Los Angeles
(7-10 Dec. 1998) entitled `Beyond the millennium: redefining the arts for the
21st century', discussing the future relationship of the Arts and technology,
combining panel discussions, papers, trade exhibitions, and performances. The
author laments the lack of artists' involvement in the proceedings, and suggests
an absence of awareness amongst those involved of issues concerning artists.
He praises some panels, and the discussions which developed from them, notes
a controversial contribution, and comments on the participation of people from
other American states, and from Europe and Japan, highlighting presentations
from representatives of art institutions in Japan, Italy, and Germany, which
he remarks underlined the lack of arts funding within the U.S.A. He remarks
on the last day's press conference to launch CaliforniaCulture.Net (http:/ /www.californiaculture.net),
and observes that the conference provides indications as to the form future
discussions on arts and technology should take.
Pangloss "It can't be art because it's too much fun." Everything:
18-19.
Discusses Self Storage, an exhibition of interactive installations by the members
of the Royal College of Art's Acorn Research Cell, which includes Brian Eno,
Laurie Anderson, Hanna Redler and Natasha Michaels. The author examines the
integration of art and technology which characterizes the show, and speculates
whether this type of art could bring about a regeneration in collaborative art
projects, which, he believes, have been supressed by the individualistic attitudes
of the 1980s.
Paul, C. "Renderings of digital art." Leonardo 35: 471-84.
Discusses the history of digital art from the Memex device in 1945 through the
introduction of the terms hypertext and hypermedia in 1961 to the use of video
and satellites in the 1970s and the characteristics of digital art in the 21st
century. She presents 10 selected works for the 10th New York Digital Salon:
netomat(TM) (1999-; illus.) by Maciej Wisniewski; Apartment (2001; illus.) by
Martin Wattenberg and Marek Walczak; Glasbead (1999-2000; illus.) by John Klima;
0100101110101101.org (2000; illus.) by 01.org; Carnivore (2001-; illus.) by
Alex Galloway and RSG; A-Volve (1994-95; illus.) by Christa Sommerer and Laurent
Mignonneau; Genesis (1999; illus.) by Eduardo Kac; Timetable (1999; illus.)
by Perry Hoberman; Pockets Full of Memories (2001) by George Legrady; and Giver
of Names (1991-; illus.) by David Rokeby.
Penny, S. "Modern Machine Art." Artlink 20(3): 44-9.
Discusses the use of cybernetic technologies to make art. The author surveys
the history of the use of technology in art, beginning with the outdoor, interactive
light sculpture created by Nicholas Schoffer in 1956 and encompassing work by
Nam June Paik, Shuya Abe, Norman White, and Kinaston McShine, and various festivals
and exhibitions organized by, among others, Robert Rauschenberg, Billy Kluver,
the curator Pontus Hulten, Jack Burnham, and Kluver's group show EAT: Experiments
in Art and Technology which furthered the use and understanding of the potential
of cybernetics in art. He describes the relationship between software and hardware
in terms of Cartesian mind/body dualism, finds parallels between art using computers
and Conceptual art, traces the move from cybernetics to artificial intelligence
technologies by artists, and accounts for the emergence of the alternative artificial
intelligence movement in the late 1980s. Citing the work of Hans Haacke and
Juan Downey to illustrate his account of the development of art from Kineticism
to a more integrated approach, to the use of technology as one guided by cybernetic
theory, he concludes by accounting for the differences between the use of cybernetics
and artificial intelligence in contemporary art.
Polli, A. "Virtual space and the construction of memory: installation
and performance work." Leonardo 31: 103-9.
The American artist Andrea Polli traces the development of her work using computers,
multimedia, electronics and robotics from the late 1980s to the present. She
explains that her work takes as its main theme the relationship between actual
physical space and the virtual space of memory, and describes works from her
oeuvre in chronological order to illustrate her interests and the development
of themes and artistic strategies. She discusses Chaos Systems in Musical Improvisation
(1989), a computer system for musical improvisation based on the Lorenz attractor;
the installation White Wall/Black Hole (1993), which worked as a complex metaphor
for human memory, involving walls covered with flour, which reacted to noise
vibrations from the street outside; the installation Appetite 4 (1995), for
which she assembled objects which illustrated her personal desires, for example
for food and safety; Fetish, May I Help You (1997), which used objects suspended
on glass panels to examine the issue of memory in virtual and physical space;
The Twins, (1997); a performance work created for the site-specific project
The Observatory held in Vilnius, which constructed a metaphor for internal and
external space; Tight (1997), a collaborative work with Louise McKissick and
Barbara Droth consisting of a computer interface to control images seen through
an antique stereoscope; and her most recent project Gape, which explores real
and false motion and appearance.
Porett, T. "Cyberart considerations." Art Journal 53(3): 32-3.
Examines the impact of recent developments in technology on the artist. The
author describes a range of current technological aids for artists and considers
their implications. He observes that an increase in the use of media such as
computers has enabled artists to incorporate elements including text and sound
into their work, and has also encouraged collaboration between artists. He describes
the impact of technology as a `new renaissance' and concludes by noting that
technology has encouraged artists to become part of society and to adopt a `mainstream
role in...culture'.
Punt, M. a. R. P. (2001). The Postdigital Membrane: Imagination, Technology
and Desire. Portland, Intellect.
Pepperell (an artist and author of The post-human condition) and Punt (a filmmaker
who has previously researched 19th century technology) believe the "digital
age" paradigm being applied to the new century has too many intellectual
restrictions in its reductionist, on-off logic. Instead, they propose the metaphor
of a living "postdigital" membrane to describe the dynamic and unpredictable
flow between art, computing, philosophy, and science. "The power of the
membrane metaphor," they write, "is its dual and contradictory function:
like a transparent wall, it both connects and divides." They employ the
metaphor here to explore how our understandings of imagination, technology,
and human desire are changing in whatever one chooses to call this new era.
... A provocative contribution to our understanding of this turbulent period
of human evolution. The authors discuss the history of technological development,
its likely future trajectory, and the imperatives driving human effort and imagination.
Although the technological revolution seems, in a few short years, to have infiltrated
every aspect of our lives, the authors of this book dispute the accepted wisdom
that we are living in a Digital Age. They argue that the digital paradigm is
absolutely inadequate for representing the continuous reality of life.
Relph, T. "Elevated wetlands: Toronto's shambling beasts." Public
Art Review 10(2): 9-13.
Discusses a public art work created by the Canadian artist Noel Harding entitled
Elevated Wetlands (1997/8) installed in wetlands beside a motorway approach
to downtown Toronto. The work consists of large, tiered animal-like structures
created by industrial plastic, each of which supports a grouping of plants and
trees selected for their ability to filter chemical pollutants from water. Water
is pumped into the structures from the surrounding wetlands, purified by the
plants, then drained back into the wetlands from which it was taken. The author
places the work in the context of Toronto's troubled attempts to introduce contemporary
public art since the 1960s. He explains the city's traditional reluctance to
give over space to work by contemporary artists and describes some of its unsuccessful
attempts to develop a more sympathetic approach. These include the controversial
installation of The Archer by Henry Moore (1889-1986) as part of Finnish architect
Viljo Revell's design for the new city hall in the late 1960s; the gift of the
publicly reviled massive sculpture Canadian Airmen's Memorial to the city by
Oscar Nemon in 1984; and Francesco Pirelli's unpopular Monument to Multiculturalism
(1985). In recent years, the city authorities have reformulated their policy
on the acquisition of public art works, and Harding's work has benefited from
the required collaboration between city planners, engineers and artist.
Rieser, M., A. Zapp, et al., Eds. New screen media: cinema/art/narrative.
A collection of critical essays with a DVD on the subject of narrative in the
new screen media of expanded cinema, computer games, interactive broadcast,
multimedia, and hypertext, which is divided into two parts. The first part comprises
four sections on the definitions, origins, convergences, and further possibilities
of narrative with essays by Sean Cubitt, Paul Willemen, Soke Dinkla, Peter Weibel,
Annika Blunck, Lev Manovich, Andrea Zapp, Alex Butterworth and John Wyver, Chris
Hales, Ken Feingold, Jon Dovey, Martin Rieser, Eku Wand, and Grahame Weinbren.
The second part consists of four sections on the restructuring of time, the
redefining of space, the expanded screen experience, and the personalized interface
with essays by Jill Scott, Toni Dove, George Legrady, Malcolm Le Grice, Bill
Seaman, Luc Courchesne, Jeffrey Shaw, Merel Mirage, Zoe Beloff, Michael Buckley,
and Graham Harwood. The DVD, which is made in association with the Zentrum fur
Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany presents examples of
interactive work and videos which explore the convergence of the cinematic and
digital arts by practitioners who include Zoe Beloff, Michael Buckley, Luc Courchesne,
Toni Dove, Ken Feingold, Chris Hales, Graham Harwood, George Legrady, Martin
Rieser, Jill Scott, Bill Seaman, Jeffrey Shaw, Eku Wand, Grahame Weinbren, and
Andrea Zapp.
Sakane, I. (1989). "Introduction to Interactive Art." Wonderland
of Science and Art - Invitation to Science Art.
guest editor at Leonardo. the journal's comments: Itsuo Sakane was born in Tsingtao,
China, in 1930. In 1934 he went back to Japan with his parents. He is the President
of two schools: International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS), and
Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS). He was a journalist from
the 1950s until 1990, covering the fields of art, science, and technology as
a staff writer for the Asahi Shimun. After retiring from the Asahi, he worked
as a professor at SFC of the Keio University until 1996, and also worked to
establish the IAMAS in April1996. The Graduate School of IAMAS opened in April,
2001. He was an International Co-Editor for Leonardo from1985 to 1995 and is
currently an Honorary Editor.
Sakane has published many books on his critics and essays based on his travels and interviews in the field between art and science. He has organized many exhibitions in these boundary fields as a director and a chief curator. His major publications include: "The Coordinate of Beauty", "Museum of Fun", "Katachi Mandala: Thinking through Seeing", "The Passage of Image" and "Between Art and Science". Major exhibitions he has organized include: "World of Holography", "Museum of Fun I, II", "Arts for Light & Illusion", "Phenomenart","Invitation to Intaractive Art at Kanagawa Science-Park, 1989", "Science-Art Gallery at Japan Pavilion in Expo '92", "1989 Biennale of Interaction '95, '97, '99,'01". His commissioned works include: "Japanese Artists" section for ELECTRA, Paris,1983; "Robot Sculpture: Sentimental Machine Exhibition", Avignon, 1986; "Exhibition for Invited French Artists: Les Artistes Français Au Japon", 1988.
Schwarz, H.-P. (1997). Media-Art-History, Karlsruhe: ZKM/Center for Art and
Media. New York, Prestel.
The Media Museum at the ZKM / Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe forms a bridge
between new and emerging art and technologies. It shows for the first time an
international collection of interactive art works and allows the public to experience
the installations. The close relation between art history and media technology
is described and illustrated, and provides a vision of the possible future of
art. 'Media - Art - History' defines the position of multimedia art now. The
catalogue section shows how mass media and new technologies have influenced
art during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Sheridan, S. L. "Generative Systems Versus Copy Art: A Clarification of
Terms and Ideas." Leonardo 16(2): 103-8.
Discusses the origins of the term 'copy art', coined in the early 1970s to describe
art works produced by means of various copy machines. the author explains the
inaccuracy of the term, and the programme established at the school of the art
institute of chicago, illinois, which was called 'generative art' and was designed
to study the impact of such machines on the art-making process and to research
further possibilities of photography, computers, copy machines and other technology.
the methods used by different types of copy machines are described and means
by which they can be manipulated are discussed in relation to the work of generative
systems artists. finally, the author examines the sociological nature of the
copy of art development.
Sheridan, S. L. "Generative Systems a Decade Later: A Personal Report."
Afterimage 6(7): 7-9.
Assesses the generative systems programme at the school of the art institute
of chicago, illinois, which seeks to integrate contemporary electronic tools
into art training. it is felt that after 10 years of work and development the
programme is viable to both students and educators. it has also been an aid
to industry, and important for the democratic role which artists must play in
society in the crucial years ahead.
Sholette, G. "Counting on your collective silence: notes on activist art
as collaborative practice." Afterimage 27(3): 18-20.
Questions why collaborative art practice is considered exceptional, when throughout
all other areas of society collaborative activity is the norm, examines the
way in which collective practice is perceived, and aims to provide an insight
into the reasons why some artists choose to work collaboratively, and others
do not. The author examines the position of collectivity within mass culture,
referring to the science fiction genre, and specifically the feature film The
Matrix (1999), and explores the construct of group identity. He presents excerpts
from the minutes of three political artist groups in New York: Artists Meeting
for Cultural Change, active between 1975 and 1977; Political Art Documentation
and Distribution, active between 1980 and 1986; and REPOhistory, founded in
1989; each of which is concerned with the way in which group members interact.
The author assesses the position of the activist art collective within society,
drawing on the writings of Derrida and Deleuze, and in relation to the art market,
debating the notion of a group signature. The text is interspersed with quotations
from other people's writings on artistic collaboration and other related issues.
Sieling, N., Ed. (1989). The techno/logical imagination: machines in the garden
of art. Minneapolis, Intermedia Arts.
Catalogue to an exhibition exploring the new languages that fuse art and technology
and examining aesthetic questions raised by computer-generated art. Included
are works by MANUAL (Ed Hill and Suzanne Bloom), James Seawright, George Legrady,
Alan Rath, Roman Verostko, John Manning, Gretchen Bender, Nancy Burson, Peter
D'Agostino, Chris Crawford, Juan Downy. An introduction by Sieling surveys the
key issues among the works and discusses ethical concerns about the ability
of new technologies to simulate real phenomena. There are five more essays.
Nancy Roth notes a constant feature of modernism: an unresolved tension between
art and technology. Martha Rosler writes on image simulations and computer manipulations,
and Christine Tamblyn on cybernetic technologies. Pamela McCorduck discusses
artificial intelligence with reference to a computer program called AARON. Brian
Winston examines the basic confusion concerning the definition and history of
technology in the context of the impact of technology on the arts.
Slemmons, R. "The new automat." Blackflash 14(1): 4-7.
The author considers the growth of digital technology throughout the last 10
years and presents conflicting viewpoints regarding the possible benefits to
creativity and the development of photography. The author states that artists,
including Jeff Wall, Gary Hill, Martina Lopez, Paul Berger and Carol Flax, are
prepared to experiment with whatever technology is available but are not constrained
by it, and describes interactive works by Lewis Baltz, George Legrady and Lynn
Hershman, who maximize the potential of digital technology. He examines the
extent to which artists are using digital technology to create collages, comments
on the uses that museums and galleries can make of new technology and notes
that the number of artists who produce their work on a digital format such as
the CD-ROM is increasing. He concludes by suggesting that art and technology
do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Sommerer, C. and L. Mignonneau "Art as a living system: interactive computer
artworks." Leonardo 32: 165-73.
The artists Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau, who are based in Kyoto,
Japan, describe some of the works they have created in collaboration since 1992
using interactive computer-based systems to explore biological evolution, in
which living organisms function as an interface. Their first such work was an
installation entitled Interactive Plant Growing (1993; illus.), which consisted
of a computer program which produced visual 3-dimensional images simulating
the growth of plants; the simulated plant growth was controlled by the responses
of real plants to the movements of visitors to the installation. For A-Volve
(1994; illus.) - a computer program depicting the evolutionary and predatory
behaviour of fish, and permitting human intervention in those processes - they
expanded this approach to incorporate the theories and strategies of artificial
intelligence. Phototropy (1995; illus.) refined this strategy for interactivity
further, permitting the visitor to influence developments during the lifecycle
of a butterfly through the use of flashlights. For GENMA (1996; illus.), visitors
are able to create, manipulate and explore the genetic design of artificial
creatures using a touch screen. They conclude by considering the implications
of their work for the role of the artist as author of an art work, and for definitions
of art.
Sommerer, C. and L. Mignonneau (1998). Art Science. New York, Springer-Verlag.
DIE ZEIT, September 12 1998
For the time being, the best overview of this renaissance of interaction between
art and science is furnished by the collection Art@Science, edited by Sommerer
and Mignonneau. Art@Science provides a multifaceted view of the trailblazers
of computer technology. Whether artist, scientist, historian or the director
of one the new museums for media art, aptly selected international experts present
their views on an advanced level but remain nonetheless generally understandable
as they lead us through the extremely complex topics covered in this well organized
volume. In recent years a new type of artist has appeared on the scene. This
new breed is active in the main centers of research and part of an internationally
well-connected polyglot scene that has access to current and state of the art
materials. These artists participate, with aesthetic methods and objectives,
directly in the further development of the computer medium. In pursuit of special
effects and realistic virtual illusions, art and science are approaching one
another on the most advanced levels of technology The kind of artist who is
both artist and scientist is now returning. The slogan-like warning against
a split into "two cultures," preached by Charles P. Snow forty years
ago, is rapidly dissolving away and the well-worn separation of art and technology
is dispossessed once again.
Spalter, A. M. (1999). The Computer in the Visual Arts. Reading, Addison Wesley.
An excellent introduction to computer graphics, The Computer in the Visual Arts
covers the historical evolution of the computer as it relates to the creation
of artwork. Author Anne Morgan Spalter interviews contemporary artists for insights
into their favorite techniques and approaches to planning, developing, and outputting
their artwork. Anyone who uses a PC for creating digital art should look to
this book for guidance on the technical, practical, and theoretical aspects
of design and production. Although the author uses plenty of technical detail,
historical facts, and art theory, the book also includes a good deal of practical
information. For example, The Computer in the Visual Arts covers popular software
programs; explains different types of printers, including their benefits and
drawbacks; and defines terms (helpfully, in boldface) succinctly, so you can
learn the basics. The chapters on 3D graphics are a perfect example, explaining
simple terms such as primitives and lofting; defining more technical terms such
as fractals and other algorithmic processes; and offering hands-on insight into
how artists use 3D software, special effects, and rendering processes creatively.
Chapters end with suggestions for further reading and exercises you can work
through on your own. The book provides loads of information on composition--that
is, arranging the form and color of artwork and deciding on the use of space
and scale. There are many images from contributing artists with explanations
of their approach to digital art, and more of these images are included in a
four-color section. The appendices to the book discuss contemporary art periods
such as modernism and postmodernism, elements of computer theory such as symbolic
logic, and lists of URLs and books you can turn to for more information. --Kathleen
Caster
Timothy, D., Ed. (1999). Ars Electronica: Facing the Future: A Survey of Two
Decades. Electronic Culture: History, Theory and Practice. Cambridge, MIT Press.
For the past two decades the Austrian-based Ars Electronica, Festival for Art,
Technology, and Society has played a pivotal role in the development of electronic
media. Linking artistic practice and critical theory, the annual festival and
symposium bring together scientists, philosophers, sociologists, and artists
in an ongoing discourse on the effects of digital media on creativity--and on
culture itself. Since Ars Electronica's inception, the evolution of the artistic,
historical, and theoretical works presented has been documented in a series
of publications that remain crucial to any understanding of media art. Drawing
on the abundant and inventive resources of those publications and on Ars Electronica's
archives, this anthology collects the essential works that form the core of
a contemporary art long dismissed as too technical or inaccessible. The book
includes a critical introduction, full bibliography, and texts and artworks
from the key figures in the field. Among the many contributors are Robert Adrian,
Roy Ascott, Jean Baudrillard, Heidi Grundmann, Donna Haraway, Kathy Huffman,
Friedrich Kittler, Knowbotic Research, Myron Kruger, Laurent Migonneau, Sadie
Plant, Florian Rötzer, Paul Sermon, Carl Sims, Christa Sommerer, Woody
Vasulka, Paul Virilio, Peter Weibel, and Gene Youngblood. This is the inaugural
book in the new series Electronic Culture: History, Theory, and Practice.
Usselmann, R. (2003). "The Dilemma of Media Art: Cybernetic Serendipity
at the ICA London." Leonardo 36(5): 389-396.
One year after the 1967 Summer of Love and at a time of considerable political
unrest throughout the United States and Europe, Cybernetic Serendipity-The Computer
and the Arts opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London to much critical
and popular acclaim. This paper outlines the conceptual framework of this seminal
exhibition and looks at some of the accompanying press reception in order to
address a key question: how media art deals with its own historicity and the
underlying socioeconomic forces that render it possible. Presented 35 years
ago and still paradigmatic for the ever-shifting boundaries between art, technology,
commerce and entertainment, Cybemetic Serendipity epitomizes some of the complicated
dynamics that delineate the gamut of media art today.
Vesna, V. "Another Day in Paradise and Virtual Concrete: installation
and telepresence works." Leonardo 31: 13-19.
The American artist Victoria Vesna describes two of her recent projects. Another
Day in Paradise (1993) addresses aspects of the Western tendency in urban planning
to design communities as controlled environments, in which artifice replaces
nature and surveillance systems are a significant feature. She explains how
she traded services with the Preserved Treescapes International Inc. to acquire
three artificial trees, and describes how she modified them so that one of the
trees bears a surveillance screen, the second an interactive video screen, and
the third a touchscreen. In addition to describing the installation and its
making, she comments on the dilemmas that artists face when working with large
corporations and on the apparent attitude of such corporations towards art.
She discusses the second project, the installation Virtual Concrete (1995),
which was inspired by the 1994 earthquake in California and consists of six
slabs made of concrete which wobbled when walked on and an Internet site with
a video link which provided remote visitors with a virtual experience of the
installation.
Wardrip-Fruin, N. and N. Montfort, Eds. (2003). The New Media Reader. Cambridge,
MIT Press.
This reader collects the texts, videos, and computer programs--many of them
now almost impossible to find--that chronicle the history and form the foundation
of the still-emerging field of new media. General introductions by Janet Murray
and Lev Manovich, along with short introductions to each of the texts, place
the works in their historical context and explain their significance. The texts
were originally published between World War II--when digital computing, cybernetic
feedback, and early notions of hypertext and the Internet first appeared--and
the emergence of the World Wide Web--when they entered the mainstream of public
life. The texts are by computer scientists, artists, architects, literary writers,
interface designers, cultural critics, and individuals working across disciplines.
The contributors include (chronologically) Jorge Luis Borges, Vannevar Bush,
Alan Turing, Ivan Sutherland, William S. Burroughs, Ted Nelson, Italo Calvino,
Marshall McLuhan, Billy Kl?Jean Baudrillard, Nicholas Negroponte, Alan Kay,
Bill Viola, Sherry Turkle, Richard Stallman, Brenda Laurel, Langdon Winner,
Robert Coover, and Tim Berners-Lee. The CD accompanying the book contains examples
of early games, digital art, independent literary efforts, software created
at universities, and home-computer commercial software. Also on the CD is digitized
video, documenting new media programs and artwork for which no operational version
exists. One example is a video record of Douglas Engelbart's first presentation
of the mouse, word processor, hyperlink, computer-supported cooperative work,
video conferencing, and the dividing up of the screen we now call non-overlapping
windows; another is documentation of Lynn Hershman's Lorna, the first interactive
video art installation.
Welsh, J. "Mausolea and altar(ed) states." Variant 11: 32-5.
Discusses a recent retrospective of Joseph Beuys's work at the Kunstsammlung
Nordrhein - Westfalen, Dusseldorf, and an exhibition of the work of his colleague
and collaborator, Nam June Paik, at the Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf, and questions
the contexts in which the exhibits were displayed. The author also examines
the installation work of Bill Viola and finds it transcends limitations of definition
and display. He concludes with a consideration of the relationship between fine
art and new technology.
Wickstrom, R. D. a. S., Sonia Landy, Ed. (1976). Sonia Landy Sheridan: A Generative
Retrospective. Iowa City, University of Iowa Museum of Art.
Catalogue to an exhibition of drawings and prints by sonia landy sheridan in
which the author explains in detail the artist's use of machine technology as
'generative systems', or a means to a lyrical art form.
Wilson, S. (2002). Information Arts. Cambridge, MIT Press.
Wilson presents a valuable summary of genetic art and related work in this 945-page
survey of art on the frontier between art and science. Information Art contains
sections titled "Artists Working with Microbiology", "Plants
and Animals", "Ecological Art", and "Body and Medicine".
The book also includes a wealth of material on artificial life.
Wosk, J. (2001). Women and the machine: representations from the spinning wheel
to the electronic age. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press.
Examines the relationship between women and machines from the early 19th century
to the present day, with particular reference to their portrayal in photographs,
prints, paintings, computer works, advertising, and packaging from Europe and
the U.S.A. The author discusses the practical help, cultural significance, and
psychological implications of women's interaction with machines in times of
war and peace, and, in separate chapters, focuses on the use of technology in
the design of frameworks and corsetry in 19th century fashion, describes the
allegorical depiction of the original woman in the context of electricity, automata,
and the digital print, and considers how the inventions of the bicycle, car,
and aeroplane changed women's lives. She analyses the portrayal of women's roles
during and after the two World Wars, and concludes by commenting on the reconfiguration
of the image of woman in the electronic age in art works by Donna Cox, Melanie
Crean, Laurie Anderson, Jenny Holzer, Cindy Sherman, and Nancy Burson.
Zurbrugg, N. "Nam June Paik: an interview." Visible Language 29(2):
122-37.
In interview, Korean-born video artist Nam June Paik (b.1932) discusses his
work and career as a pioneering video artist since the 1960s, the influence
of his work and of video art in general on related media, including commercial
television, and the use of video as a medium in contemporary art. Paik outlines
his involvement with Fluxus in Germany in the 1960s, its aims and successes
and its influence on his early interest in new media which led to his video
work. He focuses on the influence of German artist Joseph Beuys (1921-86) and
describes works he created in collaboration with him. He explains the importance
of collaboration to him and describes some of the projects he has worked on
with other artists, including John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Laurie Anderson.
He comments on trends in contemporary video art and multimedia technologies,
and examines his belief in the potential for humanizing technology through art.