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Thesis ID: CBB001560740

Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Whitman and Billy Kluever: From “9 Evenings” to “Experiments in Art and Technology” (2007)

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Marter, Joan
Publication date: 2007
Language: English

Publication Date: 2007
Edition Details: Advisor: Marter, Joan
Physical Details: 222 pp.

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In the 1960's new advances in science and technology inspired several artists to use the newest technology in their art. 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering was a series of performances in New York in 1966 by ten artists, Steve Paxton, Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, Robert Rauschenberg, David Tudor, Yvonne Rainer, John Cage, Lucinda Childs, Robert Whitman and Öyvind Fahlstrom in collaboration with thirty engineers. These performances were a catalyst to the founding of Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) by artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman and engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer to mediate between artists and the new technology. This dissertation examines the different ways that the collaboration between artists and engineers occurred. It also emphasizes the theoretical background of E.A.T, which lead to many socially engaged projects. Not much has been written about E.A.T., and when it has, it is described as a large organization with at one time over two thousand members, where no member was more important than the next. My research reveals that there were a few key personages in the organization, which were decisive in shaping it's goals and projects. Robert Rauschenberg was the first major figure, and I discuss his technological collaborations during the years 1965-1971, such as Oracle , Soundings , Solstice and Mud Muse . A brief discussion about the importance of music in Rauschenberg's works is also included. Robert Whitman is the second major figure to emerge in the history of E.A.T., and his telecommunications projects of the early 1970's, such as Utopia: Q & A , Children and Communication , and the Anand Project are discussed. He became a core figure in the organization from around 1969 until the present. Billy Klüver, who worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey, the most advanced center for telecommunications technology at the time, is the third leading figure of E.A.T.. He was it's most active member through all phases of E.A.T., and his connection to the museum director Pontus Hultén had a deciding influence in the kinds of projects E.A.T. became engaged with.

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Description On the collaboration between artists and engineers in 1960s theater. Cited in Diss. Abstr. Int. A 68/08 (2008). Pub. no. AAT 3277294.

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