PHOTOGRAPHY Two important scientific processes that paved the way for photography. The first was the camera obscura and the second was the use of chemicals such as silver chloride and powdered nitrate from silver. The first picture was produced in June/July 1827 by Niepce, which took eight hours to develop. His partnership with Louis Daguerre established on January 4, 1829 led to Daguerre’s now famous Daguerreotypes. Daguerre shortened the exposure time from eight hours down to half an hour and discovered that images could be made permanent by immersing it into salt. Daguerreomania developed overnight success and great public interest. It wasn’t until William Talbot’s Calotypes that an unlimited amount of positive prints could be made. A major step in photography was Dr. Richard Maddox’s use of gelatin as a bases for photograpic plates, which led to the dry plate process that created the possibility of taking pictures without having specialized knowledge. George Eastman’s invention of the box camera in 1888, allowed photography to reach a greater number of people.Some artists saw photography as a threat to their careers, but would later be viewed as a form of high art,and a tool for mass communication.

First photo Kodak Box Camera 1827 1888

RADIO Radio was a collaborate effort of many inventors and began with Guglielmo Marconi’s invention of his spark transmitter with antenna in 1894. But 30 years before Marconi, Cambridge professor James Maxwell, though never experienced radiowaves, theorized that radio waves could be reflected, absorbed, and focused, having an effect on an object in focus. In 1887, Heinrich Hertz put Maxwell’s theory into practice, and 1894 Oliver Lodge succeeded in transmitting wireless signals over 150 yards. In 1900, the radio saved hundreds of lives when it was used for the first time during a rescue mission for a ship in turmoil. In Canada, Reginald Fessenden invented a continuous voice transmitter in 1905 which led to a voice broadcast in the North Atlantic on Christmas 1906. Harold D. Arnold of AT&Tdeveloped the amplifying vacuum in 1913 that made the first coast to coast telephony and led the first translantic radio transmission in 1915. The effect of radio had a tremendous impact on the world. World War I was the first war that expreienced the widespread use of the radio, mainly the use of the Morse code. With the radio, many people around the world have the privelege of instant communication and connection.

Radio reciever 1900

IMMERSIVE EVENTS:HISTORICAL Television The television has proven to be an essential source for information, entertainment, and communication. John Logie Baird popularized television in Britain beginning with his’Televisor’, an experimental television device, in 1924. The first person to appear on TV was a young boy Baird had bribed to test his experiment. The war over the promotion of television’s growth and development amongst the top inventors was won by Vladimir Zworykin, hailed as the father of ‘modern television’. Zworykin invented the iconoscope in 1923, a tube that captured television images which laid the foundation for all television production in the 1930’s. In 1924 , Zworykin invented the kinescope, the same device that provide the screens for many televisions and computer monitors today. By 1936 the BBC began its switch to the electronic TV system and transmitted the first television signal from Alexandria Palace, considered as the ‘People’s Palace’. Televison was a new form of entertainment that would later prove to dominate many lives around the world.The first generation of televisions in Britain were in black and white but later changing to color in the 1960’s. In the U.S, the National Television Standards settled on a color telelvision process based on 525 line services. Television’s evolution has provided the world with visual records of historical events that have taken place since it’s early beginnings.

BBC First Color Transmission 1967

IMMERSIVE EVENTS:HISTORICAL Experimental Film In 1925 the first experimental films were created by the German and French avant garde where they were brought together at a Berlin film festival. These artists had the common idea of bringing painting into motion, where the medium of film was used to express time and rhythm through abstract forms. In the 1930's, real images and observation inspired the idea of constructing reality, where the pictures were works of art on their own. During World War II, the Third Reich led to a delay in furthering film art in Germany, influencing many of the avant garde to leave the country. The 1960's saw the prominence of young creative experimental filmakers in Austria, and Germany, inspired mainly by North American underground films, leading to new trends and movements. The term 'underground' defined the American sub-culture's trends in film art. The influence of drugs inspired psychedelic films in the 1960's, breaking new ground and categories. Structural films of the mid 1960's and onward emphasized the perception of multiple images of reality moreso than narrative content. Following the impact of this movement, the first experimental film festivals were created in Cologne, Germany. Experimental films seeks to explore social and film conventions by bringing the film material itself as the subject of the film.

'Funeral Parade of Roses' 'Emperor Jones' Toshiro Matsumoto Dudley Murphy Japan, 1969 USA, 1933

Music Video

The music video dates back as early as 1890 when George Thomas set music to projected photograpic images to entertain an audience. Thomas photographed people acting out a song called,"The Little Lost Child", and inside the theater musicians would play along to the slides projected on the screen. The music video of today began with the launch of MTV in 1981 with "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles. MTV has had a tremendous impact on the American cultural landscape and the nature of the music industry. Many of the early videos were shot on film and some were animated such as Dire Straits "Money for Nothing". The videos often involved dancing, lip synching, and sometimes a narrative concept that connects with the lyrics. The combination of storylines, acting, and graphic imagery brought in the perception of the music video as a new art form. The content of this new art was often controversial with its expression of sex, violence, drugs and other sensitive issues. The 1990's saw a new wave of young creative filmakers eager to explore the possibilities of the music video. Pearl Jam's video for "Jeremy" was a social comment on the realities of alienation, confusion, teen angst and suicide. The video for "Closer" proved that art, music and controversy can be used to break the rules of the music video aesthetic. However, not all music videos try to break new ground or comment on society, instead they are merely for entertainment and promotion. The music video has changed throughout years and has dealt with great criticism, but there is no doubt about the impact it has had on popular culture and media. "Closer" Nine Inch Nails Dir:

IMMERSIVE EVENTS:MEDIA ART Cells The cell is the most basic unit of life and since its discovery many lives throughout the world have been saved and changed.The discovery dates back to 1665 when English scientist Robert Hooke looked at a thin piece of cork through a microscope. Scientists have discovered ways to fight infections and disease causing bacteria. The knowledge of the cell's structure lead to an extensive research in medicine and stem cells. Also it has had a profound impact on DNA research, and saving lives through the advancements in curing illnesses and preventing cancer. The research of cells has had a tremendous impact on science, but most importantly the lives of many people.

IMMERSIVE EVENTS:SCIENCE Digital Art Digital art, a contemporary artform in which computer technology is used in many ways to create unique and interesting works of art. Introduced mainly in the 1970's, digital art reached prominence later in the 20th century with technological advancements in software, video equipment, sound mixers, and digital camera. Digital art combines painting, photography, graphic design, film. installation art, sculpture, animation and sound. Contemporary artists like Jeremy Blake create video paintings that express serene abstract forms with a variety of colors. Digital art has reached millions through the internet and a medium that is constantly evolving. Recently museums are making commitments in supporting digital artists. Despite the technological tools, the artists still must depend on imagination, form and content. The computer allows the artist to explore many fields other than what they were originally trained for in the course of their career. However, computer graphics are sometimes seen as commercial applications instead of art. Digital art proves that computer generated work does not depend entirely on commercial and entertainment purposes alone, and is an entire new artform with great artistic potential that should be exploited to its fullest.

'Winchester' Jeremy Blake, 2002 18 minute continuous loop

IMMERSIVE EVENTS:MEDIA ART