Telematic art
Encyclopedia
Telematic art is a descriptive of art projects using computer mediated telecommunications networks as their medium. Telematic art challenges the traditional relationship between active viewing subjects and passive art objects by creating interactive, behavioural contexts for remote aesthetic encounters. Telematics was first coined by Simon Nora and Alain Minc
in The Computerization of Society. Roy Ascott
sees the telematic art form as the transformation of the viewer into an active participator of creating the artwork which remains in process throughout its duration. Ascott has been at the forefront of the theory and practice of telematic art since 1978 when he went online for the first time, organizing different collaborative online projects.
Although Ascott was the first person to name this phenomenon, the first use of telecommunications as an artistic medium has occurred in 1922 when the Hungarian constructivist artist László Moholy-Nagy
made the work Telephone Pictures. This work questioned the idea of the isolated individual artist and the unique art object. In 1932 Bertold Brecht emphasized the idea of telecommunications as an artistic medium in his essay 'The Radio as an Apparatus of Communication'. In this essay Brecht advocated the two-way communication for radio to give the public the power of representation
and to pull it away from the control of corporate media
.
In 1970 two projects used satellites to connect artists on the east and west coast of the United States. This was the first time that artists were connected in a telematic way. With the support of NASA
the artist produced composite images of participants, enabling an interactive dance concert amongst geographically disparate performers. An estimated audience of 25,000 saw bi-coastal discussions on the impact of new technologies on art, and improvised, interactive dance and music performances that were mixed in real time and shown on a split screen. These first satellite works emphasized the primacy of process that remained central to the theory and practice of telematic art.
Ascott used telematics
for the first time in 1978 when he organized a computer-conferencing project between the United States and the United Kingdom called Terminal Art. For this project he used Jacques Vallée
's Infomedia Notepad System, which made it possible for the users to retrieve and add information stored in the computer’s memory. This made it possible to interact with a group of people to make "aesthetic encounters more participatory, culturally diverse, and richly layered with meaning". Ascott did more similar projects like Ten Wings which was part of Robert Adrian’s The World in 24 Hours in 1982. The most important telematic artwork of Ascott is La Plissure du Textehttp://telematic.walkerart.org/timeline/timeline_ascott.html from 1983. This project allowed Ascott and other artists to participate in collectively creating texts to an emerging story by using computer networking. This participation has been termed as ‘distributed authorship’. But the most significant matter of this project is the interactivity
of the artwork and the way it breaks the barriers of time and space. In the late 1980s the interest in this kind of project using computer networking expanded, especially with the release of the World Wide Web
in the early 1990s.
Alain Minc
Alain Minc is a French businessman, political advisor, and author.-Biography:Alain Minc was born in Paris on April 15, 1949. He is a graduate of the École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris and the École nationale d'administration....
in The Computerization of Society. Roy Ascott
Roy Ascott
Roy Ascott is a British artist and theorist, who works with cybernetics and telematics. He is President of the Planetary Collegium.- Biography :...
sees the telematic art form as the transformation of the viewer into an active participator of creating the artwork which remains in process throughout its duration. Ascott has been at the forefront of the theory and practice of telematic art since 1978 when he went online for the first time, organizing different collaborative online projects.
Although Ascott was the first person to name this phenomenon, the first use of telecommunications as an artistic medium has occurred in 1922 when the Hungarian constructivist artist László Moholy-Nagy
László Moholy-Nagy
László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.-Early life:...
made the work Telephone Pictures. This work questioned the idea of the isolated individual artist and the unique art object. In 1932 Bertold Brecht emphasized the idea of telecommunications as an artistic medium in his essay 'The Radio as an Apparatus of Communication'. In this essay Brecht advocated the two-way communication for radio to give the public the power of representation
Representation (politics)
In politics, representation describes how some individuals stand in for others or a group of others, for a certain time period. Representation usually refers to representative democracies, where elected officials nominally speak for their constituents in the legislature...
and to pull it away from the control of corporate media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
.
In 1970 two projects used satellites to connect artists on the east and west coast of the United States. This was the first time that artists were connected in a telematic way. With the support of NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
the artist produced composite images of participants, enabling an interactive dance concert amongst geographically disparate performers. An estimated audience of 25,000 saw bi-coastal discussions on the impact of new technologies on art, and improvised, interactive dance and music performances that were mixed in real time and shown on a split screen. These first satellite works emphasized the primacy of process that remained central to the theory and practice of telematic art.
Ascott used telematics
Telematics
Telematics typically is any integrated use of telecommunications and informatics, also known as ICT...
for the first time in 1978 when he organized a computer-conferencing project between the United States and the United Kingdom called Terminal Art. For this project he used Jacques Vallée
Jacques Vallée
Jacques Fabrice Vallée is a venture capitalist, computer scientist, author, ufologist and former astronomer currently residing in San Francisco, California....
's Infomedia Notepad System, which made it possible for the users to retrieve and add information stored in the computer’s memory. This made it possible to interact with a group of people to make "aesthetic encounters more participatory, culturally diverse, and richly layered with meaning". Ascott did more similar projects like Ten Wings which was part of Robert Adrian’s The World in 24 Hours in 1982. The most important telematic artwork of Ascott is La Plissure du Textehttp://telematic.walkerart.org/timeline/timeline_ascott.html from 1983. This project allowed Ascott and other artists to participate in collectively creating texts to an emerging story by using computer networking. This participation has been termed as ‘distributed authorship’. But the most significant matter of this project is the interactivity
Interactivity
In the fields of information science, communication, and industrial design, there is debate over the meaning of interactivity. In the "contingency view" of interactivity, there are three levels:...
of the artwork and the way it breaks the barriers of time and space. In the late 1980s the interest in this kind of project using computer networking expanded, especially with the release of the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
in the early 1990s.
Pop culture
The Telematic art is now being used more frequently by televised performers.Shows such as American Idol, MTV, and other shows that are based highly form viewer polls incorporate telematic art. The TV will post a graphic logo to direct the attention from the viewer to vote or participate in an event for the show. The televised programs will offer viewer participation via cellular phone interaction. The viewer will be able to text or call a specified number to involve the viewer in the show to affect its outcome.This can be considered a mass interactive method to change the outcome of the show.Further reading
- Ascott, Roy(2003).Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology, and Consciousness. (Ed.) Edward A. ShankenEdward A. ShankenEdward A. Shanken is an American art historian, whose work focuses on the entwinement of art, science and technology, with a focus on experimental new media art and visual culture. His scholarship has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies and has been translated into six...
. Berkeley, CA:University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520218031 - Edward A. ShankenEdward A. ShankenEdward A. Shanken is an American art historian, whose work focuses on the entwinement of art, science and technology, with a focus on experimental new media art and visual culture. His scholarship has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies and has been translated into six...
. Tele-Agency: Telematics, Telerobotics, and the Art of Meaning. Art Journal, issue 2 2000. - Ascott, R. 2002. Technoetic Arts (Editor and Korean translation: YI, Won-Kon), (Media & Art Series no. 6, Institute of Media Art, Yonsei University). Yonsei: Yonsei University Press
- Ascott, R. 1998. Art & Telematics: toward the Construction of New Aesthetics. (Japanese trans. E. Fujihara). A. Takada & Y. Yamashita eds. Tokyo: NTT Publishing Co.,Ltd.