Art, Science, Technology: Six Exhibitions 1966–1998

Abstract

From the late 1960s until the end of the twentieth century, the author organized, or helped organize, six exhibitions throughout Europe that saw artists integrate and alter the collective destinies of science, art and technology. The works of art presented at these exhibitions: KunstLichtKunst at the Stedelijk Van Abbe Museum in Eindhoven; the Lumière et Mouvement exhibition at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Cinétisme, Spectacle, Environnement, held at the Mobile theater of the Maison de la Culture in Grenoble; Interventions and Environments in the Streets of Paris and in Its Suburbs and Electra at the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris; and the Virtual Art show in Boulogne-Billancourt in 1998, did more than just lay a formal and theoretical foundation for new media art to follow—they challenged the perceptions of both the spectator of the art as well as other artists working in this area. This article chronicles the aesthetic and societal ramifications, particularly within the artistic community, that the works in these exhibitions created.