Two renowned institutions known for their contributions to arts research in engineering and science are partnering for experimentation in space and time. Leonardo/The International Society for Arts, Sciences and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST) and the Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) program at Nokia Bell Labs have launched a joint residency in Silicon Valley that will bring in art researchers with an interest in science and engineering to spend six weeks at the Nokia Bell Labs Sunnyvale office this summer. 

The inaugural resident is Bay Area–based media artist/theorist Jules Litman-Cleper. They are interested in unpacking simulation as a way of knowing, the formation and deformation of patterns in organic systems, and perceptual aspects of randomness and ecologies—their flows of information, spatial dynamics and protection. These inquiries unfold through writing, visual art, mixed-media installation, sound, research and experimentation. They have taught classes and exhibited work at Krowswork, Aggregate Space and New York Studio School, with performances at The Lab, ATA, CCRMA and elsewhere.

Legacy of Leonardo/ISAST and Bell Labs Engagement

During the 1960s, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., was a major innovator in the intersection of technology with the arts. Pioneering research was being conducted in the application of digital computers to such artistic areas as music, 3D stereographic animation, ballet, computer animation and graphics, and page design. In 1967, the E.A.T. collective launched, pairing artists with scientists and engineers at Bell Labs to create groundbreaking performances that incorporated new technology. The following year, 1968, brought the publication of the first transdisciplinary journal, Leonardo, by Pergamon Press. The journal was founded in Paris, France by one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, astrophysicist/artist Frank Malina. Leonardo journal was the platform on which artists, scientists and engineers could converse and be taken seriously by a scholarly community. These two events coincided with the 1968 Cybernetic Serendipity exhibit at the Institute for Contemporary Arts London (later touring the United States) that elevated and legitimized the new genre of computer or cybernetic art.