Experiments in Art and Technology - Archive
Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), founded by engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer alongside artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman, is a groundbreaking organization dedicated to fostering collaboration between artists, engineers, and scientists. By integrating art, theater, multi-sensory environments, and innovative technology, E.A.T. events have successfully bridged multiple disciplines.
In October 1966, E.A.T. launched its first multidisciplinary project, 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering. Klüver and Rauschenberg gathered 30 engineers from Bell Telephone Laboratories and 10 avant-garde artists, including John Cage, Lucinda Childs, Öyvind Fahlström, Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Rauschenberg, David Tudor, and Robert Whitman. This event combined new technologies with theatre, dance, and music, setting a precedent for future collaborations.
Billy Klüver gives a lecture in a television studio in Toronto in 1967. Behind him are projected the first proposals from the artists for 9 Nights: Theater and Engineering, 1966. Unknown photographer. Daniel Langlois Foundation, collection of documents published by E.A.T.
E.A.T.'s second major project, the Pepsi-Cola Pavilion at Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan, created a revolutionary multi-sensory environment. The exterior featured a dome surrounded by billowing fog and a plaza filled with moving sculptures. Inside, visitors experienced laser light lines, a surround sound system, and a 90-foot diameter hemispherical mirror dome. Contributions included a fog sculpture by Fujiko Nakaya, motorized floats by Robert Breer, light frame sculptures by Forrest Myers, and a sound system by David Tudor.
E.A.T. began publishing a newsletter on January 15, 1967, which quickly became a success with Julie Martin as editor. After five issues, the newsletter split into E.A.T. Operations and Information and a newspaper called TECHNE, which published two issues. Additionally, E.A.T. released a series called E.A.T. Proceedings, documenting their activities.
E.A.T. Bibliography: 1965-1980 summarizes material published by E.A.T. and compiles press articles on their activities. Publications documenting E.A.T. projects include 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering; Some More Beginnings; Pavilion; and New York Collection for Stockholm.
E.A.T. Archive Package of Published Material
In 1980, E.A.T. assembled an archive package of 360 documents, including reports, catalogs, newsletters, informational bulletins, proposals, lectures, announcements, and reprints of major articles produced throughout their activities. This archive package was distributed to major libraries in cities such as New York, Washington, Paris, Stockholm, Moscow, Ahmedabad, London, Toronto, and various locations in Australia.
The original 1980 archive package was later expanded to include newly discovered material. Institutions like Bard College and ZKM, Karlsruhe, have acquired this collection of documents, and E.A.T. still holds several archive boxes. Billy Klüver published a master list of the documents in the archive package along with a list of articles by others on E.A.T. in E.A.T. Bibliography 1965-1980.
Archive of E.A.T. Activities: 1966 - 2001
In 1993, the full archive of E.A.T.’s activities from 1966 to 1993 was placed at the Getty Institute for the Study of Art History and the Humanities in Los Angeles. For more details, you can explore the E.A.T. project at their website.
In 2001, The Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science, and Technology acquired the archive of 16 mm and 35 mm film footage of 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering, shot by Alfons Schilling and AT&T. This archive also includes audio recordings of some performances, production materials, and master video tapes of several documentary films on the performances by E.A.T. More information can be found on the Langlois Foundation's 9 Evenings page.
E.A.T. Archives from 2001 - Present
The documents in the archive package have been digitized and entered into a database of “E.A.T. Published Material,” created and managed by Hedi Sorger. Sorger also created a second database with over a thousand photos, objects, and ephemera documenting E.A.T. projects and activities. These resources are available to researchers and historians. Sorger manages these digital archives, handles requests from scholars and publications, and facilitates loans for exhibitions worldwide. For further exploration, visit the E.A.T archive.
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