Experiments in Art and Technology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) was a non-profit organization established to promote collaborations between artists and engineers. It was officially launched in 1967 by the engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer and artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman who had previously collaborated, most notably in 1966 when they organized 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering, a series of performances that united artists and engineers and accelerated these relationships.
These early 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.
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.
[edit] References
- Steve Wilson: Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology, MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-73158-4
- Art of the Electronic Age, Frank Popper, 1993, Thames and Hudson Ltd., London, and Harry N. Abrams Inc, New York, ISBN 0-8109-1928-1
