Information Arts. Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology

968 Pages·2002·10.219 MB·English

by  Stephen Wilson

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Team-Fly®
Information Arts
leonardo
Roger F. Malina, series editor
Designing Information Technology, Richard Coyne, 1995
Technoromanticism:DigitalNarrative,Holism,andtheRomanceoftheReal,RichardCoyne,1999
The Visual Mind, edited by Michele Emmer, 1994
TheRobotintheGarden:TeleroboticsandTelepistemologyintheAgeoftheInternet,editedbyKen
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
ImmersedinTechnology:ArtandVirtualEnvironments,editedbyMaryAnneMoserwithDouglas
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
mechanicalmeans(includingphotocopying,recording,orinformationstorageandretrieval)with-
out permission in writing from the publisher.
ThisbookwassetinBellGothicandGaramondbyAchornGraphicServices,Inc.,andprinted
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,andTheoreticalOverview 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,AnimalsandPlants,Ecology,andMedicineand
theBody 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,NonlinearSystems,Nanotechnology,MaterialsScience,
Geology,Astronomy,SpaceScience, GlobalPositioningSystem,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,GeneticArt,andArtificialLife 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, SoundInstallations, andRobots 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