EXPERIMENTS IN ART AND TECHNOLOGY A Brief History and Summary of Major Projects 1966 - 1998 Experiments In Art And Technology 69 Appletree Row Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922 March 1, 1998 MAINTAIN A CONSTRUCTIVE CLIMATE FOR THE RECOGNITION OF THE NEW . TECHNOLOGY AND THE ARTS B Y A CIVILIZED COLLABORATION BETWEEN GROUPS UNREALISTICALLY DEVELOP- ING IN ISOLATION . ELIMINATE TAE SEPARATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL FROM TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND EKPAND AND ENRICH TECHNOLOGY TO GIVE 'II0 INDIVIDUAL VARIETY, PLEASURE AND AVENUES FOR EXPLORATION AND IN- VOLVEMENT IN CONTEMPORARY LIFE* ENCOURAGE INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE IN GENERATING ORIGINAL FORETHOUGHT, INSTEAD OF A COMPROMISE IN AFTER- , M A T H, AND PRECIPITATE A MUTUAL AGREEMENT IN , ORDER TO AVOID THE WASTE OF A CULTURAL REVOLUTION . EXPERIMENTS IN ART AND TECHNOLOGY BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF E .A .T . in 1966 by Billy in Art and Technology was founded Experiments Fred Waldhauer, and Robert Whitman . Kluver, Robert Rauschenberg, developed the not-for-profit organization The decision to form and Engineering," the experience of "9 Evenings : Theatre from Armory in New York City in October 1966 held at the 69th Regiment artists worked .engineers and ten contemporary where''forty It became clear that if continuing together on the performances . achieved, a artist-engineer relationships were to be organic made to set up the necessary major organized effort had to be physical and social conditions . was held in New York City, November 1966, a meeting of artists . In engineers and other interested people attended by 300 artists, providing the was positive to the idea of E .A .T . The reaction . Robert Rauschenberg with access to the technical world artists president, Robert Whitman became chairman, Billy Kluver was opened to Fred Waldhauer secretary . Membership treasurer, and office set up in a loft at 9 all artists and engineers, and an East 16th Street in New York . was formulated by Billy Kluver The purpose of the organization and Robert Rauschenberg : for the recognition of - Maintain a constructive climate and the arts by a civilized collaboration the new technology in isolation . between groups unrealistically developing the separation of the individual from - Eliminate enrich technology to Technological change and expand and variety, pleasure and avenues for give the individual life . exploration and involvement in contemporary initiative in generating original - Encourage industrial and instead of a compromise in aftermath, forethought, order to avoid the waste precipitate a mutual agreement in of a cultural revolution . as a catalyst E .A .T . saw the organization acting The founders of and technology, with the to stimulate the involvement industry d to develop an effective collaborations arts . E .A .T . worke industrial cooperation and between artists and engineers with sponsorship.' . from artists and the was an immediate response to E .A .T in There early activities of the organization art community . 'pue to the artist engineers, by 1969 there were over 2,000 attracting willing to work with artists . members and 2,000 engineer members assistance, etc . Expressions of interest, requests for technical over the United States and from abroad : Europe, came from all to start E .A .T . Japan, South America, etc . People were encouraged were formed . In 1968 a conference Local Groups and about 15-20 Manhattan . for these Local Groups was held at the E .A .T . loft in took two principal forms : Technical Services- E .A .T .'s activities initiated and Program and E .A .T . Projects which the organization administered . artists with An ongoing Technical Services Program provided for their work by matching them with access to new technology on the engineers or scientists for a one-to-one collaboration . A part of this effort was to acquaint artist's specific project the and business communities with the needs of the technical technology or type artists . E .A .T . was not committed to any one computers or holography ; E .A .T . never of equipment like for the artist established a laboratory or workshop, preferring with engineers in the industrial envronment to work directly The Technical which was where the technology was being made . artists and no judgment was made about Services were open to all was value of the artist's project or idea . An effort the esthetic scientist who made to match every artist with an engineer or could help her/him . interests was enormous, and this diversity The range of artists' technical in the letters, proposals and requests for is reflected technical, and artistic help now in the archive . The geographic, E .A .T . uniquely document a vital diversity of these contacts with as moment in the history of post-war art, as well and important new technology the continuing involvement artists have had with in the 20th century . and organized a variety of events and E .A .T . initiated (1966) ; "Some exhibitions : "9 Evenings Theatre and Engineering" at the Brooklyn Museum (1968-1969) ; Pepsi More Beginnings" and The New York Pavilion at Expo '70, Osaka Japan (1969-1970) ; Collection for Stockholm (1971-1973) . technologies in During the 1970s the emergence of new hardware data processing, and control and command communications, systems, which instrumentation lea to new generation of software the artists . E .A .T . realized that were of great ~nterest to of make a significant contribution to the evolution artists could projects in these software systems and generated a series of participated in these areas of technological which the artist projects that development . E .A,T . undertook interdisciplinary artists' activities into new areas of society : extended the Artists in India Projects Outside Art (1969-1971) ; American (1970-1971) ; Telex : Q&A (1971) ; Children and Communication(1971) ; City Agriculture (1971) ; and numerous projects with artists and television in this country and abroad, of which the Anand Project in India (1969) is a prominent example . E .A .T . PROJECTS INCLUDE : 9 EVENINGS : THEATRE AND ENGINEERING A series of performances held in October 1966 at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York City, by John Cage, Lucinda Childs, 6yvind Fahlstr6m, Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Rauschenberg, David Tudor, and Robert Whitman . They worked in collaboration with more than 40 engineers and scientists from Bell Telephone Laboratories to develop technical equipment that was used as an integral part of the performances . A catalogue was printed containing statments by the participating artists, photographs, drawings and technical diagrams . A 20 minute, 16mm sound, black and white film was made of the performances . TECHNICAL SERVICES PROGRAM 1966 TO PRESENT The Technical Services program began in 1966 . Artists with technical requests were matched with engineers and scientists for information, assistance or longer collaborations . The system for providing information and matchings was expanded several times since 1966, including the development of the artist-engineer matching system, first using edge-notch cards to hold information on technical specialties of over 1,000 engineers as well as the initial development of a computer database of engineers and scientists for artists' reference . An initial effort of_ E .A .T . was to recruit engineers to work with artists . Activities intended.- to interest and recruit engineers included visits to technical laboratories like Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ or IBM Laboratories in Armonk, NY ; taking a booth at the in IEEE convention in New York where artists talked to engineers ; weekly open houses at the E .A .T . loft at 9 East 16th Street, where artists and engineers could meet and talk informally ; publication of a newsletter,E .A.T . News ; compilation of a list of technical libraries in the New York City area open to artists . Ot4er services to artists included loan of equipment, consultation on safety of works, and approaches to industry for support of artists' projects . There is documentation on all these activities . One typical project that E .A .T . undertook under the Technical Services Program was to secure permission for the public Such permission had of an art work employing lasers . exhibition Usami in November 1968 . Peter been denied to a work by Kieji New York staff worked successfully with the Poole of the E .A .T . to show the work at Health Department to obtain permission City published an account of the the Jewish Museum . E .A .T . department approval and process of obtaining health installation written by Peter Poole . for a laser environment was ARTISTS BY ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS FOR LECTURE SERIES organized a series of lectures by In the spring of 1968, E .A .T . on for artists held at the E .A .T . loft engineers and scientists computer generated subjects like lasers and holography ; technical new Hexcel materials . Speakers came sound and images ; television ; : Bell industrial and government laboratories from academic, Standards, etc . Laboratories, MIT, National Bureau of E .A .T .COMPETITION competition for the best spring of 1968 E .A .T . announced a In the a work of art made in contribution by an engineer to incorporating artist, and called for works collaboration with an organized by Pontus to be selected for an exhibition technology the End of the Mechanical Age" to Hulten "The Machine as Seen at the fall of Museum of Modern Art in New York in be held at the interested engineers and 1968 . E .A .T . offered to match all artists . EXPERIMENTS IN ART AND TECHNOLOGY SOME MORE BEGINNINGS : art and Beginnings" was one of the first major "Some More held at the Brooklyn Museum from technology exhibitions . It was generated January 1969 . The competition had November 1968 to was made to show all than 140 submissions and the decision by more Museum . The catalogue was designed these works at the Brooklyn and contains Julie Martin, and Robert Rauschenberg Billy Kluver, of 145 works . photographs and technical description . PAVILION AT EXPO '70, OSAKA, JAPAN PEPSI-COLA a large-scale international E .A .T .