Leonardo
Gateway Author(s): Roy Ascott, Timothy Binkley, Robert A. Brown, Ronald R. Brown, Bulat M. Galeyev, Roger F. Malina, Alex Nicoloff, Martha Nicoloff, Wolfgang Schneider, Christa Sütterlin Reviewed work(s): Source: Leonardo, Vol. 27, No. 1 (1994), pp. 3-11 Published by: The MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1575936 . Accessed: 15/03/2012 09:12
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In GATEWAYwe reporton significant events, in- cludingconferences and expositions;news of inter- estingdevelopments in technologyand scienceas theyrelate to the arts;tutorial-level discussions of importanttechnologies and scienceforthe nonex- pert. Wewelcome readers' suggestions for and con- tributionsto future sections.
SCHOENBERG/KANDINSKY SYMPOSIUM AND ANNOUNCING:LEONARDO THE ACADEMY OF LIGHT ELECTRONICALMANAC In January 1993, the Netherlands Royal Conservatory Since1988, Leonardo has been in- and the Municipal Museum of the Hague held an in- volvedin electronic publishing. ternational symposium devoted to the comparative BeginninginSeptember 1993, publi- analysis of the creative works of two artists who have cationof ournewest, monthly on-line become twentieth-century symbols-composer Arnold newsletter,Leonardo Electronic Schoenberg and painter WassilyKandinsky. The "syn- Almanac(LEA) began. LEA is dedicat- thetic" ideas of the artists were emphasized in the ed to providingup-to-date perspec- event, which highlighted the interaction of music and tiveson art involving science and painting. The symposium was timed to occur with the technology-throughartists' state- celebration of the opening of 25 new studios and work- mentsabout their own work, profiles shops for students of the electronic arts department of artfacilities, theoretical and tech- and the Conservatory Music Theatre. The celebration nicaldiscussions and reviews of ma- also marked the opening of the international Academy jorevents. LEA is distributedbythe of Light-with presentations by those whose work to- MITPress through subscription on day embodies the spirit of the painting and music-syn- theInternet electronic network. thesis of Kandinsky and Schoenberg. LEAEditor Craig Harris is a board Speakers included the following: from Holland: memberof thenonprofit organization Frans Evers, Konrad Boehmer, Laurens v.d. Heijden, Leonardo/lSAST.Heis a composer, HansJanssen, Job Ijzerman; from Germany: Albrecht multimediaartist, researcher and ed- Dumling, Klaus Kropfinder; from the United States: ucator.His current research involves Reinhold Brinkmann, Kurt W. Forster; from Russia: theexploration of the creative pro- Irina Vanechkina and Bulat Galeyev. cess andthe impact of newtechnolo- In the Art Gallery and hall, where Kandinsky's pic- gieson creative work environments. tures are exhibited, the Conservatory students per- formed Schoenberg's PierrotLunaire. In the
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Announcing... Schoenberg/KandinskySymposium ... LeonardoElectronic Almanac is Conservatory's Great Hall, Schoenberg's monodrama availablefree to Leonardosubscribers Die glucklicheHand was presented with the original and for $25.00/year to nonsub- stage set and light-musical synthesis elements. The au- scribers. Send orders via e-mailto thor of this review showed two musical videotapes that
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Schoenberg/KandinskySymposium ... States, were shown in his absence. The director of the THEEYE: A JOURNALOF performance of Die glucklicheHand, Dick Raaijmekers, CONTEMPORARYART and light-artist Christa van Santen represented the Themaiden issue of TheEye: A Journal Netherlands. Gustav Metzger, light-designer of famous of ContemporaryArthas been published rock-band ensembles, demonstrated in detail the tech- inNigeria. Contents include "Towards nical methods he uses in his artistic practice. In addi- ArtisticRevolution inNigeria," by Edwin tion to Termen, Russia was represented by my Debebs;"Historical and Aesthetic Notes presentation of a documentary film about the works on Uli"(the art form of bodyand wall of SKB "Prometheus." F. Evers and Babeth M. Vanloo paintingusing indigo dyes), by C. Krydz took part in the planning and preparation of the aca- Ikwuemesi;a profile of sculptorIsiaka demic program. Osundeby Gani Odutokun; "Three The whole event ended with a "round table" devot- Propositionson PublicArt in Nigeria," by ed to interdisciplinary problems of art education, with OsaD. Egonwaand a portfolioon sculp- discussion of the question: "Are the utopian ideas of torRichard Baye with a textby the artist, Schoenberg, who in 1942 proposed to establish a as wellas exhibitionreviews and com- 'School for Soundmen,' and of Moholy Nagy, who de- mentaries.The magazine is a bi-annual scribed at the same time the contours of an 'Academy publicationof the Eye Society, founded in of Light,' a reality now?" Such meetings give us hope 1989 to promotethe visual arts as in- that today these ideas have indeed become reality. strumentsof development.Editorial advi- BULATM. GALEYEV sors includeLeonardo Honorary Editor KAI, SKB "Prometheus" K. Marks Str., 10 YusufGrillo. An editorial signed by Jacob Kazan, 420111 Jari,secretary of thesociety, states, "We Russia believein the freedom of theartist to use hisvarying experiences for the benefitof BEHRS RECEIVE LINDBERGH GRANT mankind.Such experiences may not nec- Leonardoauthors Marion R. Behr and Omri Behr [1] essarilybe identifiablewith a traditional of ElectroEtch Enterprises, Edison, NewJersey, U.S.A., background,but may include benefits received a 1993 Lindbergh Grant from the Charles A. fromexplorations inscience and technol- Lindbergh Fund for their project entitled "Electron- ogy."For more information, contact The ically Controlled Art Etching: Improving Artist Safety Eye,P.O. Box 1411, Zaria,Nigeria. and Eliminating Hazardous Waste." Subscriptions:N 50. Given in the name of the famed flyer and conserva- tionist, Lindbergh Grants are presented annually to
Gateway 5 Even less widely known, but importantfor what it tells of man and novelty, is thefact that historically thefirst discoveryof useful materials, machines or processeshas almost always been in the decorativearts, and was not donefor a perceivedpractical purpose. Necessityis NOT the motherof invention-only of improvement.A man desperately GAE searchingfor a weapon orfood is in no moodfor discovery;he can only WAY exploit what is already known to exist. Discoveryrequires aesthetically IG motivated curiosity, not logic,for new things can acquire validity only by interaction with an environment that has yet to be.... -Cyril Stanley Smith, "On Art, Invention and Technology," Leonardo10, No. 2, 144 (1977).
LindberghGrant ... MEDIENLABOR MUNCHEN men and women who further a balance between the ad- Anew laboratory has been created in vance of technology and preservation of the natural/hu- Munichfor the implementation of inter- man environment. disciplinaryMedia Art projects: the Medien An excerpt of the summary prepared by the Fund de- LaborMunchen (MLM). Itis currently scribes the Behrs' project as follows: "Marion Behr, with housedon the second floor of the Kunstler- her husband Omri Behr, has developed a system that re- werkstattinthe Lothrigher Strasse, and places the use of acid with low-voltage electric current ex- wasset upthrough the auspices of the posing the crystal structure of the metal, eliminating CulturalAffairs Office (Kulturreferat) ofthe health concerns for the artist and waste disposal prob cityof Munichwith the help of severalindus- lems associatedwith the chemicals. It is hoped that fur- trysponsors, among them, the Siemens ther development and adaptation of this new process will CulturalProgram. enable artistsand students to pursue an art form which is Inits pilot phase, the primary task of presently restricted to locations with expensive ventilation theMLM will be to holdcourses and work- systemsand acid disposal facilities." shopson the artistic possibilities of new Over the years the Lindbergh grants have become media,as wellas to conveybasic techni- known as highly sought-afterawards, often supporting in- calknowledge on their use andimplemen- novative ideas and young researchers,and providing tation.These classes are open to all "seed money" for larger,long-term projectswith far- interestedparties-particularly to artists, reaching applications. Many people remember Charles butalso to peoplein the natural sciences Lindbergh chiefly for his historic flight from New Yorkto andhumanities. The goal of thesecourses Paris;however, the Fund is committed to promoting the is to enableparticipants to independently vision exemplified in the nearly 50 years after the flight, use electronictools to carryout long-term which Lindbergh spent making substantialcontributions projectsat the MLM. Beyond this, criteria in fields ranging from aeronautic research and natural re- foran aesthetic of thenew media arts and source conservation to biomedical research, exploration appropriateforms for their presentation and wildlife preservation. shouldbe developed. To receive a 1995 grant application form, write or call Lectureseries, conferences and exhibi- the CharlesA. Lindbergh Fund, 708 So. 3rd St., Suite tionsare planned in order to engagea 110, Minneapolis, MN 55415, U.S.A. Tel: (612)338-1703. broadsection of thepublic in a discussion onthe media arts. For more information, Note 1. See Omri M. Behr and Marion R. and Tone Creation contactMLM Medien Labor P.O. Behr, "Etching Munchen, Using Low-Voltage Anodic Electrolysis,"Leonardo 26, No. 1 (1993). Box801269, Lothringerstr. 13, 8000 Munich80, Germany.
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LEONARDOAUTHOR/MEMBER NEWS IN MEMORIUM:FRANCOIS Electronic PictureBooks MOLNAR,1922-1993 The Exploration in Education (ExInEd) program of the FrancoisMolnar was born in 1922 in Special Studies Office (SSO) at the Space Telescope Hungary,attended the School of Fine Science Institute is developing a series of multimedia edu- Artsin Budapest and studied art history cational publications called Electronic PictureBooks, andaesthetics at the University of which are authored by space scientists, engineers and as- Budapest.His graduate studies were in tronauts. The goal of ExInEd in publishing these works is psychologyand psychophysiology atthe to find new waysto relate space science and exploration SorbonneinParis. Molnar's research ca- to basic teaching and learning, and to expand the space reerwas focused on understanding the community's abilityto reach out to teachers, students and psychophysiologicalbases of perception the public at large. andthe scientific bases of the aesthetics These Electronic PictureBooks run on Macintosh com- ofvisual arts. Molnar was also the co- puters, and each contains text, full-color images and navi- founderof theGroupe de Recherches gational features to assist the reader. The ExInEd desArts Visuels (GRAV) and of the program is also in the process of developing CD-ROMs GroupeArt et Informatique.Hecreated (both Mac-and IBM-compatible),which will contain andled the Laboratoire duCentre de whole librariesof Electronic PictureBooks. RechercheExperimental et Informatique The growing list of Electronic PictureBook titles in- desArts Visuels. He was also President cludes: GemsofHubble, Endeavour Views ofEarth, The World ofthe International Association for Factbook,Magellan Highlights of Venus,Images of Mars, ExperimentalAesthetics (IAEE). His nu- ScientificResults of theGHRS, Terrestrial Impact Craters, merouspublications include the following VolcanicFeatures of Hawaii and OtherWorlds, and TheImpact Leonardoarticles: "Experimental Catastrophethat Ended in theMesozoic Era. Aestheticsorthe Science of Art," Current Electronic PictureBooks are now availableon Leonardo7, 23 (1974);and "Noise, disk from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (Tel: Form,Art' (with V. Molnar), Leonardo 22, 415-337-2624). They can also be downloaded from SSO's 15 (1989).A recent important text was electronic bulletin board (Tel: 410-516-4880), from the "AScience of Vision for Visual Art," in commercial network America On-Line, and via the EmergingVisions of theAesthetic Internet using anonymous ftp to host address
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Author/MemberNews... IN MEMORIUM:LEONARDO please write directly to ExInEd, c/o Special Studies HONORARYEDITOR CYRIL Office, Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San STANLEYSMITH Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, U.S.A. LeonardoHonorary Editor Cyril Stanley ROBERTA. BROWN ExInEd Smithdied 25 August1992. Bornin Birmingham,England, he obtainedhis LeonardoAuthor Ronald R. Brown PhDin metallurgyat the Massachu- In 1992, Binney & Smith (Easton, PA), makers of setts Instituteof Technology(MIT) in Liquitex paint and Crayolas,awarded Ronald R. Brown 1926. DuringWorld War II he worked [1] for a construction having apartheid as the subject at LosAlamos Laboratory on the purifi- matter.Brown exhibited several of his artworksat a cationand properties of plutonium.As gallery's Earth Day celebration and was one of more than a memberof the GeneralAdvisory 40 sculptors featured in a videotape presented at the Committeeof the AtomicEnergy International Sculpture Center's Biennial convention in Commissionhe votedagainst the Philadelphia [2]. He also presented his ideas at the Small crashdevelopment of the hydrogen Art Network (SCAN) conference in bomb.After the warhe establishedthe Computers Philadelphia. Institutefor the Studyof Metalsat the In 1993, Brown presented a paper explaining his artis- Universityof Chicagoas an interdisci- tic approach at the Fourth Biennial Arts and Technology plinaryinstitute devoted to the studyof at Connecticut His work was exhibit- metals.In 1960 he becameInstitute Symposium College. ed at Allentown College of Saint Francisde Sales (Center Professorat MIT,where he studiedthe Valley,PA) and at Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, historyof the scienceand practice of WA) for the "ButIs It Art? ... Currents in Electronic metallurgy.He developed approaches Imaging"exhibition. For more information, contact for understandingthe methodsof fabri- Ronald R. Brown, 569 Lake Warren Road, Upper Black cationand thus the ages of ancient Eddy,PA 18972, U.S.A. metallurgicalsamples such as swords andtools. Heshowed that break- Notes throughsin manyscientific areas were 1. See Ronald R. Brown, "The Use of the Knight's Tour to Create Abstract Leonardo No. 55-58 Ronald R. Brown's art motivated aesthetic rather Art," 25, 1, (1992). by curiosity and music ideas also were mentioned in Clifford A. Pickover, Mazesforthe thanthe pursuitof practicalgoals. Cyril Mind (St. Martin's Press, 1992) pp. 204-205. 2. Each of the artistsutilize the in their work in some The StanleySmith had a lastinginfluence, computer way. videotape was produced by sculptors Rob Fisher and David Smalley,with notonly as a metallurgist,but as an in- grants from the ISC and Connecticut College. The videotape, TheComputer: A Toolfor Sculptors,can be obtained from the ISC, Washington, D.C.
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Author/MemberNews... Computerkunst/Computer Art in Germany terdisciplinarythinker with broad inter- The Museum der Stadt Gladbeck has been working ests fromthe socialcontext of technol- with computer art for several years through its biannu- ogy, architectureand the arts,as well al international competitions and expositions (wander- as topicsin artand mathematics. An ing shows). The museum places emphasis on the exampleof his interdisciplinaryap- documentation of developments and artists [1] and is proachis foundin his discussionof building up a collection of artworks, particularly com- tilingpatterns, "The Tiling Patterns of puter graphics and objects. The next competition SebastienTruchet and the Topologyof (with an award of 5000 DM) will be held in May 1994. StructuralHierarchy," Leonardo 20, The museum is a member of Leonardo/ISAST, ISEA No. 4, 373 (1987).Cyril Stanley Smith (International Society for the Electronic Arts, joinedthe LeonardoEditorial Board in Groningen) and GEK (Gesellschaft fur Elektronische 1975 andwas a strongsupporter of Kunst, Cologne). the journal. For information and applications, contact Wolfgang ROGERF. MALINA Schneider (Director), Museum der Stadt Gladbeck, Burgstrasse 64/Wasserschloss Wittringen, D 45 964 Gladbeck, Germany.
Note 1. The museum's computer-art catalogues include: Computerkunst'86 (IS- BN 3-923815-10-7); Computerkunst'88 (ISBN 3-923815-15-8); Computerkunst'90 (ISBN 3-923815-20-4); Computerkunst'92 (ISBN 3- 923815-26-3).
Encounters in the Solar Spectrum: The Nicoloffs Leonardoauthors Alex and Martha Nicoloff create mov- ing images of light and shadow in an environment illu- minated by the solar spectrum [1]. From among a profusion of reflection and refraction, unexpected color-forms emerge that have strong evocative power. The Nicoloffs document the continuous changes of these color-forms in video with spontaneous improvisa- tions generating order from their chaotic origin. These appearances are often sustained indefinitely, dissolving
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Author/MemberNews... and re-emerging until they disappear or crash. At other times in another mode, a geometric theme is dis- located and reconstituted to eventually become a col- orful web for fragments approaching dissolution. The two perspectives have been sometimes identified as aleatory and stochastic. Electronic music chosen for its capacityto arouse visual association provides the opportu- nity for further integration through post-production edit- ing. The result the Nicoloffs aspire to is a poetic fusion of luminous spectral color-formsand evocative sound. For more information, contact Alex and Martha Nicoloff, 1729 Virginia Street, Berkeley,CA 94703, U.S.A.
Note 1. See Alex Nicoloff and Martha Nicoloff, "Reflections on Refractions: Kinetic Light-Painting-Music in the Solar Spectrum," Leonardo25, No. 2, 159-161 (1992). LeonardoAuthor Timothy Binkley Timothy Binkley [1] is chair of the graduate program in computer art at the School of Visual Arts, New York, and also director of the Institute for Computers in the Arts, New York. He is currently working on a book, The VirtualReality of Digital Culture,to be published by Oxford University Press, and recently published SymmetryStudio (1992), a textbook companion to his SymmetryStudio software for textiles, wall-coverings, floor coverings and mathematical applications. Binkley has recently exhibited his interactive computer instal- lations at SIGGRAPH '93, Ars Electronica '92, Videobrasil International Videofestival (1992), Digital Jambalaya, New York (1992) and Image du Futur, Montreal (1993), among others. For more informa- tion, contact Timothy Binkley, Institute for Computers in the Arts, School of Visual Arts, 209 East 23rd Street,
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Author/MemberNews... New York, NY 10010, U.S.A. Note 1. Timothy Binkley, "Digital Dilemmas," Digital Image-Digital Cinema, SIGGRAPH '90 Art Show Catalog, LeonardoSupplemental Issue (1990).
Im Banne der Angst The fall of 1992 saw the publication of a new book by I. Eibl-Eibsfeldt and Ch. Siitterlin, Im Banne derAngst (Munich: Piper Verlag, 1992) (495 pp.). For more in- formation, contact Christa Siitterlin, Humanethologie M.P.G., D-82346 Erling, Germany.
Leonardowould like to know what our authors and members are up to! Send your news to Leonardo Author/Member News, Leonardo/ISAST, 672 South Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110, U.S.A. Fax: 415-431-5737. E-mail:
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