Synthesis: Visual Arts in the Electronic Culture

Abstract

This book documents the proceedings of an international UNESCOsponsored conference focusing on the relationship of the new electronic technologies to art, art institutions and culture. conference was held in December 1987 at the Bonn School of Art and Design Offenbach/ Main in Germany and was seen as a follow-up to a 1978 conference on aesthetics and technology. book consists of papers by the participants and a limited number of illustrations of participants' artworks. All papers are presented in both German and a second language (usually English but sometimes French). participants came primarily from Europe and consisted of academicians, art institution administrators and artists. book is organized into five sections: The Artist and the Machine, Examples of the Seminar Participants' Artistic Work and Projects, Creativity, The Electronic Academy, and The Electronic Museum. 'The Artist and the Machine section attempts to analyze the impact of the new technologies on culture. authors include Rene Berger, Abraham Moles, JaroslavJirasek and Jurgen Claus. participants address issues such as changing notions of time and space and the concern that values may be neglected in technological work. Creativity section presents an uneven collection of papers, including several by artists. Most of the latter were disappointing because they focused on technical descriptions of the artists' activities but did not provide much insight about the impact of the new technologies on thinking about art. The Electronic Academy section considers the impact of technology on traditional art education with