Y L F M A E T Team-Fly® Information Arts leonardo Roger F. Malina, series editor Designing Information Technology, Richard Coyne, 1995 Technoromanticism: Digital Narrative, Holism, and the Romance of the Real, Richard Coyne, 1999 The Visual Mind, edited by Michele Emmer, 1994 The Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet, edited by Ken Goldberg, 2000 Leonardo Almanac, edited by Craig Harris, 1994 In Search of Innovation: The Xerox PARC Artist-in-Residence Program Project, edited by Craig Harris, 1999 The Digital Dialectic: New Essays on New Media, edited by Peter Lunenfeld, 1999 Immersed in Technology: Art and Virtual Environments, edited by Mary Anne Moser with Douglas MacLeod, 1996 Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology, Stephen Wilson, 2002 Information Arts Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology Stephen Wilson The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England 2002 Stephen Wilson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) with- out permission in writing from the publisher. This book was set in Bell Gothic and Garamond by Achorn Graphic Services, Inc., and printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wilson, Stephen, 1944– Information arts: intersections of art, science, and technology / Stephen Wilson. p. cm.—(Leonardo) ISBN 0-262-23209-X (hc: acid-free paper) 1. Art and science. 2. Art and technology. I. Title. II. Leonardo (Series) (Cambridge, Mass.). N72.S3 W55 2002 701′.05—dc21 00-038027 Contents selected artists xiii selected technologies xvii series foreword xix foreword by joel slayton xxi preface xxiii 1 Introduction, Methodology, Definitions, and Theoretical Overview 1 1.1 art and science as cultural acts 2 A Quiz 4 Revisiting the Relationship of Art and Techno-Scientific Research 5 Organization of the Book 7 The Deficiency of Categorization 8 What Areas of Technological Art Are Included? Which Are Not? 9 Definitions and Theoretical Reflections 11 Similarities and Differences between Science and Art 18 Critical Theory and Problematic Issues in the Integration of Art and Techno-Scientific Research 20 Artists’ Stances in Integrating Research 25 Summary: The End of Timelessness? 30 1.2 elaboration on the approach of art as research 34 Can the Arts Offer Alternatives in Setting Research Agendas, Interpreting Results, and Communicating Findings? 35 What Is a Viable Role for Artists in Research Settings? What Can Researchers Contribute to Art and What Can Artists Contribute to Research? What Can High-Tech Companies Gain from Artists Being Involved? 36 Art Characteristics Useful for Research 38 Preparing Artists for Research 39 The Integration of Research and Art 40 Art and Science/Technology Collaborations 41 Future Possibilities 48 2 Biology: Microbiology, Animals and Plants, Ecology, and Medicine and the Body 53 2.1 biology: research agendas and theoretical overview 54 Introduction 55 Research Agendas in Biology and Medicine 56 Areas of Cultural Significance in Biological Research 59 Theoretical Perspectives on Biology and the Body 72 Rethinking the Body and Medicine 77 Searching for Aesthetic Form in Art and Science 84 How Are Biology-Based Theory and Research Important to the Arts? 88 2.2 artists working with microbiology 94 Introduction: Microbiology and Genetics as Artistic Interest 95 Manipulations and Investigations of the Microworld 96 Creating Forms and Visualizations Based on Its Structures, Including the New Iconography of Gene Mapping 101 Reflections on the Processes of Genetic Science and Its Social Implications 105 Summary: Micro Steps 108 2.3 plants and animals 110 Introduction 111 Invertebrates 112 Arthropods: Insects and Spiders 116 Plants 118 Vertebrates 120 Acoustic Ecology 123 Summary 126 2.4 ecological art 128 Ecology: Organic Life as a System 129 Questions Raised by Artistic Interest in Ecology 130 Historical Examples of Artistic Work 131 Contemporary Artistic Work with Ecological Concepts 133 Summary: Linking Science and Art in Action 146 2.5 body and medicine 148 Introduction: Bodies, Technology, and Theory 149 Extropian and Post-Human Approaches 154 Contents vi Artists’ Experiments with Technological Stimulation 157 Artists’ Experiments with Smell 169 Artists’ Experiments with Surgery 170 Experiments with Tissue Culture 174 Body Modification 174 Brain Processes, Heartbeats, Breath, Biosensors, and Psychology 180 The Psychological Processes of Perception, Cognition, Appreciation, and Creativity 189 Body Imaging 189 Medicine, Hospitals, Bodily Fluids, and Death 193 Summary: Dissecting the Body 198 3 Physics, Nonlinear Systems, Nanotechnology, Materials Science, Geology, Astronomy, Space Science, Global Positioning System, and Cosmology 201 3.1 physical science research agendas and theoretical reflections 202 Introduction: Questions about the Biggest and Smallest of Things 203 Survey of Research Fields and Agendas 204 Nonlinear Systems, Chaos, and Complexity 207 Astronomy, Cosmology, and Space Science 209 Epistemology—How Do We Know What We Know? 211 Potentially Important Emergent Technologies 213 Summary: Artist Explorations of Physical Science Research and Concepts 221 3.2 atomic physics, nanotechnology, and nuclear science 222 Atomic Physics 223 Viewing and Manipulating the Atomic World—Nanotechnology 226 Nuclear Science 230 Summary: Difficulties of Working at the Atomic Level 233 3.3 materials and natural phenomena: nonlinear dynamic systems, water, weather, solar energy, geology, and mechanical motion 234 Nonlinear Systems 235 Natural Phenomena—Oceans, Water, and Moving Liquid 239 Natural Phenomena—Erosion and Geological Action 241 Natural Phenomena—The Sky, Winds, and Weather 244 Solar Art 246 Mechanics—Oscillation and Pendulum Action 251 Fire, Heat, Magnetics, and Electromagnetics 253 Materials Science, Rapid Prototyping, and Chemistry 253 Summary: Pattern Finding and Poetry of Matter 256 Contents vii 3.4 space 260 Artistic Interest in Space 261 Views from Space 263 Art Viewed from Earth 265 Art Executed in Space and Weightlessness 268 Painting and Photography Based on Space Exploration 271 Conceptual and Electronic Works 271 Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) 275 Art Critiques of Space Research 278 Summary: The Hopes 279 3.5 global positioning system (gps) 282 Possibilities and Dangers 283 Artistic Experimentation with GPS 283 Summary: Unexpected Implications 292 4 Algorithms, Mathematics, Fractals, Genetic Art, and Artificial Life 295 4.1 research agendas in mathematics and artificial life 296 Why Is Mathematics Part of a Book on Science, Technology, and Art? 297 A Review of Research Agendas in Mathematics 298 Artificial Life 302 Theoretical Perspectives on A-Life 305 Summary 311 4.2 algorithmic art, art and mathematics, and fractals 312 Algorithmic Art 313 Art and Mathematics 320 Fractals 330 Promise and Problems in Art and Mathematics and Algorithmic Art 333 Literacy—Audience Background 334 Understanding Systems 336 Abstraction and Cultural Theory 337 4.3 artificial life and genetic art 340 A-Life Sculpture and Autonomous Agents 341 Genetic, Evolutionary, and Organic Art 351 5 Kinetics, Sound Installations, and Robots 367 5.1 robotics and kinetics 368 Introduction: Robots—Creatures of Art and Science 369 An Overview of Scientific and Technological Research Agendas 371 Contents viii Examples of Conceptual Challenges and Approaches 374 Robots and Popular Culture 382 Summary: Robot Hopes, Fears, and Realities 383 5.2 conceptual kinetics and electronics 386 Artistic Research 387 Kinetic Art Precursors 388 Kinetics and Light Sculpture 389 Conceptual Kinetics 392 Summary: More Than Robotics 405 5.3 kinetic instruments, sound sculpture, and industrial music 406 A Brief Theoretical Overture 407 Experiments in Sound Installation 409 Summary: Research as Art 422 5.4 robots 424 Robotic Theater and Robotic Dance 425 Autonomy 427 Extreme Performance, Destruction, Mayhem, and Control 432 Social Metaphors 440 Extending Robot Motion and Interfaces 446 Robot Architecture 451 Summary: Kinetics and Robots—Hybrids of Art and Science 454 6 Telecommunications 457 6.1 telecommunications research agendas and theoretical reflections 458 Introduction: Overcoming Distance 459 Telecommunications Research and Development 460 Research Trends in Telepresence 469 The Meaning of the Telecommunications ‘‘Revolution’’ 473 The Exploration of New Possibilities 481 Summary: Telecommunications—The Grand Cyber Debate 484 6.2 telephone, radio, and net.radio 486 A Brief History of Telematic Art 487 Theoretical Perspectives on Telephone Art 488 Examples of Telephone-Based Art 490 Radio, Television, and Wireless 497 Radio-Based Art and Theater Installations 503 Art Radio 504 Contents ix The Migration to Net.Radio 507 Summary: Dangers and Opportunities in Convergence 511 6.3 teleconferencing, videoconferencing, satellites, the internet, and telepresence 514 Teleconferencing, Videoconferencing, Satellites, and Internet Collaboration 515 Telepresence Definitions 526 Artists Exploring Telepresence 528 Visualizing Net Activity 549 Parapsychological Communication 554 Summary: Being There 556 6.4 web art 558 Critical Perspectives on Web Art 561 Archive and Information Sites 564 Projects to Accumulate Web-Viewer Opinions 572 Genetic Art Using Web-Visitor Voting 573 Recomposing Web Resources 576 Collaborative Environments and Person-to-Person Communication 579