Experiments in Art and Technology

Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) was a non-profit and tax-exempt organization established to develop collaborations between artists and engineers. E.A.T. initiated and carried out projects that expanded the role of the artist in contemporary society and helped eliminate the separation of the individual from technological change. E.A.T. was never a concrete channel that formalized an art-science interchange in some elaborate bureaucratic institution. Rather it served to facilitate person-to-person contacts between artists and engineers.

It was officially launched in 1967 by the engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer and the artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman. These men had previously collaborated, most notably in 1966 when they together organized 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering, a series of performance art presentations that united artists and engineers. The performances were held in New York City's 69th Regiment Armory, on Lexington Avenue between 25th and 26th Streets as an homage to the original and historical 1913 Armory show. [ [http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=1734] "Vehicle," online, retrieved September 25, 2008 ] [ [http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=396] documents, history online, retrieved September 25,2008 ] Such collaborations continued to break down barriers between the arts and scientists in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, and indirectly launched and supported the experimental sound artist John Cage, dancer Merce Cunningham, and pop artist Andy Warhol.

The pinnacle of E.A.T. activity is generally considered to be the Pepsi Pavilion at Expo '70 at Osaka Japan where E.A.T. artists and engineers collaborated to design and program an immersive dome.

Twenty-eight regional E.A.T. chapters were established throughout the U.S. in the late 1960s to promote collaborations between artists and engineers and expand the artist’s role in social developments related to new technologies. In 2002 the University of Washington hosted a reunion to celebrate the history of these regional liaisons and consider the legacy of E.A.T. for artists working with new technologies in the twenty-first century.

Documentation

In 1972 Billy Klüver, Barbara Rose and Julie Martin edited the book "Pavilion", that documented the design and construction of the E.A.T. Pepsi Pavilion for Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan.

In 2001 Billy Klüver produced an exhibition of photo and text panels entitled "The Story of E.A.T.: Experiments in Art and Technology, 1960 - 2001 by Billy Klüver." It was first shown in Rome and then again at Sonnabend Gallery in 2002. The exhibition went to Lafayette College in the spring 2002, then to the Evolution Festival in Leeds, England, and University of Washington, in Seattle. In 2003 it traveled to San Diego State University in San Diego, California and then to a gallery in Santa Maria, California run by Ardison Phillips - who was the artist who managed the Pepsi Pavilion in 1970. From April to June 2003 a Japanese version was shown at a large exhibition at the NTT Intercommunication Center (ICC) in Tokyo which also included a number of object/artifacts and documents and E.A.T. posters, as well as works of art that Klüver and E.A.T. were involved in. A similar showing took place in Norrköping Museum of Art, Norrköping, Sweden in September 2004 and a small version of the panels were presented in 2008 at Stevens Institute of Technology as part of a celebration of Experiments in Art and Technology.

References

ources

* Steve Wilson, Information arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology. MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-73158-4
* Frank Popper, Art of the Electronic Age (1993) Thames and Hudson Ltd., London, and Harry N. Abrams Inc, New York, ISBN 0-8109-1928-1
* Klüver Billy, J. Martin, Barbara Rose (eds), Pavilion: Experiments in Art and Technology. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1972
* John Rockwell, The Man Who Made a Match of Technology and Art. New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.:Jan 23, 2004. p. E.3
* Charlie Gere (2005) "Art, Time and Technology: Histories of the Disappearing Body", Berg, pp. 134 & 137

Further reading

* Alan Liu (2004). "The Laws of Cool: Knowledge Work and the Culture of Information", University of Chicago Press
* Roy Ascott (2003). Telematic Embrace. (Edward A. Shanken, ed.) Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21803-5
* Barreto, Ricardo and Perissinotto, Paula [http://www.file.org.br/the_culture_of_immanence.doc “the_culture_of_immanence”] , in Internet Art. Ricardo Barreto e Paula Perissinotto (orgs.). São Paulo, IMESP, 2002. ISBN: 85-7060-038-0.
* Jack Burnham, (1970) Beyond Modern Sculpture: The Effects of Science and Technology on the Sculpture of this Century (New York: George Braziller Inc.
* Bullivant, Lucy (2006). Responsive Environments: architecture, art and design (V&A Contemporaries). London:Victoria and Albert Museum. ISBN 1-85177-481-5
* Bullivant, Lucy (2005). 4dspace: Interactive Architecture (Architectural Design). London: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-470-09092-8
* Oliver Grau, "Virtual Art, from Illusion to Immersion", MIT Press 2004, pp. 237-240, ISBN 0262572230
* Paul, Christiane (2003). "Digital Art" (World of Art series). London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-20367-9
* Peter Weibel and Shaw, Jeffrey, "Future Cinema", MIT Press 2003, pp. 472,572-581, ISBN 0262692864
* Wilson, Steve Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology ISBN 0-262-23209-X
* Kynaston McShine, "INFORMATION", New York, Museum of Modern Art., 1970, First Edition. ISBN: LC 71-100683
* Jack Burnham, ‘Systems Esthetics,’ Artforum (September, 1968); reprinted in Donna de Salvo (ed.), Open Systems: Rethinking Art C. 1970 (London: Tate, 2005)
* Edward A. Shanken, ‘Art in the Information Age: Technology and Conceptual Art,’ in Michael Corris (ed.), Conceptual Art: Theory, Myth and Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
* Marga Bijvoet, (1997) Art as Inquiry: Toward New Collaborations Between Art & Science, Oxford: Peter Lang

See also

* Intermedia
* Systems art
* Digital art
* Computer art
* Conceptual art
* Systems thinking
* Algorithmic art

External links

* [http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=237 Collection of Documents Published by E.A.T]
* [http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/eat/public_html/index.html E.A.T Reunion 1966/2002]
* [http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=396 On 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering] ]
* [http://www7.nationalacademies.org/arts/Robert_Rauschenberg's_Open_Score_Film_Screening_July_12_2007.html Screening of Documentary on Robert Rauschenberg's 1966 E.A.T. performance piece "Open Score" @ National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.]