Chapter 14

1961/1972
Billy Klüver
"The Garden Party"/ The Pavilion

• if a scientific experiment cannot "fail" neither can an artistic experiment
• Jean Tinguely worked with Klüver to create "Homage to New York"
• a machine in which "jean supplied the energy to create the freedom and was ruler over the chaos" a work of chance and of the moment - much like the city it was paying respects to
• the machine created and destroyed itself to present us with an ephemeral moment
• "creative masters of changing reality"
• the pavilion was a massive collaboration of artists, scientists, engineers, and participators
• the goal was to give he visitors "choice, responsibility, freedom, and participation" so that the work was not complete until they had been involved
• emphasis was on the visitors relationship to the environment rather than on the object itself, it was a giant experiment in human behavior
• each collaborator was involved in a specific aspect of the project, so all are equally authors of the work
• the fog and mirror involved were incredible feats of science and technology that would later have many practical purposes besides its original artistic one
  

1966-7
E.A.T.

• founded by Klüver, Rauschenberg, Whitman, and Waldhauer
• first project was a collaboration between Klüver, a research scientist at Bell Labs, and Jean Tinguely, artist
• engineer was no longer an artist's assistant, but collaborator
• group takes off when Klüver met Wiggen who was organizing the festival of art and technology
• EAT created a variety of events and pieces that went beyond art or technology by fusing the two
• "eliminate the separation of the individual from technological change and expand and enrich technology to give the individual variety, pleasure, and avenues for exploration and involvement in contemporary life."

I love the idea of the pavilion because I have always enjoyed interactive art. Walking through a standard museum, asked to stare at painting after painting, after sculpture is boring, and lifeless. An interactive art/science/technology enviroment is alive and constantly changing as we are is way more exciting. There is a small modern art museum near my parent's house that this reminded me of because each few months a new artist gets to take over the space and rebuild it however they see fit. Usually it involves a certain amount of interactivity, but the fact that the space itself is constantly changing is why its so fun to go back.