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The Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) Datascape

Finished activity

How to probe the complexity of works done in collaboration between artists and engineers?

A digital archive displaying the process of collaboration in the Experiments in Art and Technology association through maps of works and projects depicted as networks of people, organizations, places and technologies.

Research

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Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) is a renowned example of interdisciplinarity at the intersection of Art, Science and Technology, conceived by Rauschenberg, a co-founder of E.A.T., as a "map of engineers, money and equipment", facilitating collaborations between artist, engineer and industry. Despite the amount of information available, E.A.T.’s production and legacy remains unclear. The project, in collaboration with E.A.T. (represented by Julie Martin), is based on the organization’s numerous activities, developed in art and non-art contexts, including realized and unrealized works and projects from the 1960s to the present day. through a 'datascape'. In the first place, the aim is to describe as extensively as possible the stories of works of art or projects, from their design and development stages to their different exhibitions and receptions. One of the main challenges is to produce a digital archive displaying the process of collaboration, not merely catalogue E.A.T.’s productions. Secondly, the archive will map these works and projects as networks of people, organizations, places and technologies, so as to better understand E.A.T.’s identity using the theories of Science and Technology Studies. The aim is to develop an online archive built as a research tool for humanities scholars in art and social art history. Their work, mapping the material in the archive, will provide the project’s added value; historical documents combined into information networks, revealed by various visualizations, will make of the archive a veritable exploratory tool.Christophe Leclercq, art historian, project lead (research)
Paul Girard, engineer, project lead (technology and methodology)
Patrick Browne, intern engineer, development of the information system
Daniele Guido, designer, design and development of the visualization interfacesSeptember 2011-August 2012
Prototype exhibited in the show 'Multiversité Créatives' curated by Valérie Guillaume at the Centre Pompidou - 3 May - 6 August, 2012.