At the Leading Edge of Art: Howard Wise on EAI’s Founding Mission
Published in 1973, At the Leading Edge of Art was a 14-page prospectus by Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) founder Howard Wise (1903-1989), outlining the philosophical approach and mission of the organization. In addition to outlining Wise’s idiosyncratic vision for the potentials for electronic art, the document outlines the services EAI provided to independent artists, as well as the sponsored projects launched during its first year of operation.
As part of our ongoing celebration of our 50th anniversary, EAI has commissioned a series of responses to Wise’s text, beginning with an essay by Alex Kitnick discussing the relationship between Wise, Marshall McLuhan, and the culture of business.
Below, read the full document as a .pdf file, or a transcribed excerpt. Learn more about EAI’s early sponsored projects—including the Vasulkas’ The Kitchen, Charlotte Moorman’s Annual Avant Garde Festival, Eric Siegel’s video synthesizers, and more—in A Kinetic History, a growing digital resource charting the history of EAI.
📖 Read full text here.
Excerpt from AT THE LEADING EDGE OF ART
by Howard Wise
ART WITHOUT FUNCTION
There was a time when art was an integral part of everyday life. The sculptures of primitive peoples were not just works of art; they possessed powers for good or evil, health or misery; they brought rain, or if offended, caused the crops to wither. Each succeeding culture had expressed its most profound beliefs through representation of sacred images until the Enlightenment undermined faith and relegated to art only the function of visually recording history. The invention of photography, which performed this task better than painting or sculpture, severed the last ties between art and contemporary life, and made art valid only for its own sake.
In effect, today's religion is science, and technology is its manifestation. We believe just as firmly in Einstein's theory of relativity, for example, as we did in any of the religious tenets that were held to be so sacred in the past. We input to the automobile and the TV set powers as mysterious and awesome as those which the ancients ascribed to their idols and fetishes.
TECHNOLOGY: THE BRIDGE BETWEEN ART AND LIFE
Science and technology permeate our everyday life. Everyone is familiar with electric lights, automobiles, TV sets, and the myriad other products of technology which so effectively determine our fate. Artists who have been representative of their times have used the most advanced tools available to them. When used by the artist, the products of our technology could become the bridge over which the artist conveys his emotions, ideas, and concerns to the viewer, as religion was in early and Medieval times.
During the Machine Age, which is just ending, some artists attempted to use motion and energy as essential elements in their work (kinetic art). Many of these were successful as works of art, but the artist could not afford the costly and time-consuming testing procedures necessary to assure continuous operation.
THE HARMONIOUS UNION OF ART AND SCIENCE?
We are in the process of graduating from the Machine Age to the Electronic Era. Recent advances in the technology of the electronic media suggest that television may be that bridge over which today's artist may bring art to life. Science and technology have provided this pre-tested electronic medium for use by the artist as a means of his expression, and at the same time have provided the mechanics for the dissemination of his work-most homes are electronically equipped, ready to receive the artist's message: they have TV sets already installed. Thus a great step forward towards the harmonious union of art and technology is about to occur.
THE ARTIST IS DENIED ACCESS TO THE TV SYSTEM
However, in order to integrate art with contemporary life, it is necessary for the artist to gain access to the system. This has been denied to him because the extremely high costs of production and broadcasting require that broadcast TV be supported by advertising revenue or by commercial or governmental largesse. Broadcast TV must therefore seek the largest possible audience, and its programming must be non-provocative, non-controversial, and inoffensive. One of the consequences is that commercial TV has not explored the possibilities of the TV medium as a creative means in itself, but has been content to borrow from other areas such as theatre, burlesque, literature, the news reel, sports, film, and (in reproduction on the TV screen) painting, sculpture, and architecture. A further consequence has been the effective denial to the artist of access to television, for the artist must, in order to express himself, seek to provoke the viewer out of his complacency, he must attempt to stimulate the viewer's imagination, and he must seek the truth and make it visible regardless of the consequences.
THE ADVENT OF 1/2" VIDEO, CASSETTES, AND CABLE TV
The introduction in 1968 of portable television, now commonly referred to as "video," the relatively inexpensive 1/2" battery operated video-tape recorder in conjunction with the hand-held TV camera, made it physically and financially feasible for the artist to avail himself of the technology of television as a means of his artistic expression. The impending proliferation of two other means of video communication, the videotape cassette player and the cable TV system, now offer the artist the possibility of participation in these "alternate media." The widespread use of video cassette players will permit anyone owning a TV set an almost unlimited choice of recorded programs. Cable TV companies will be able to utilize the 40 or even 80 channels at their disposal when audiences are measured in the millions, instead of the tens of thousands, as is now the case. Far greater opportunities for program selection, both of live and recorded programs, will then be available than are now offered at any one time by commercial TV. In addition, the expansion of cable TV will permit program targeting to small audiences based on interest, location or other factors.
THE OPPORTUNITY AND THE CHALLENGE TO THE ARTIST
The status of the cassette and cable TV industries is now very much in a state of flux. It is by no means certain that, when the considerable problems facing them are resolved, the artist will be able to participate in the development of cassette and cable television to the extent that he can infuse them with the vigor and vitality of which he is capable. Successful resolution of these problems will present the artist with both the opportunity and the challenge to show that by means of his art he can create programs of sufficient power and appeal to attract a sizable audience.
His targets will be, no doubt, those thoughtful and concerned persons who are also eager to discern the truth, whether it be in art, in politics, in social and economic problems—those who eschew banality and seek meaning in their activities and their lives. In other words, the very people whom commercial TV neglects and "turns off."
THE ARTIST AS ELECTRONIC INNOVATOR
In television, "the medium is the message," that is, the mechanics of TV (the hardware) are inextricably intermixed with the content (the software). For this reason, some video artists have concerned themselves with the development of new components arid the modification of existing ones in their attempt to realize the potentials of the TV system.
Video artists working in this area have already developed important devices including video synthesizers of several types which by electronic means permit the creation of images directly on the TV screen or the modification of images seen by the camera. Other video artists are attempting to generate a language for television utilizing those aspects of TV technology which are unique to the medium, and are not derived from film or any other informational medium. Television registers a continuous flow of imagery as sensed by the camera and transmitted on to the TV screen in a manner akin to that in which the human eye registers reality, the image of which is conveyed by the nervous system to the brain and thus to our consciousness. Because of this similarity, TV is especially suitable for use by the artist as a means of creative expression.
TV IS A MEDIUM SUITABLE FOR THE ARTIST
Among TV's properties which appeal to the artist are the following:
Video registers instantaneously what the camera sees, and may be played back immediately without the necessity of processing;
Video establishes an intense, private, one-to-one relationship between the work and the viewer, which makes it particularly appropriate for artistic communication;
The sound and the picture, both being simultaneously recorded on the same tape, are automatically in sync, without need of extra audio equipment;
Both the image on the tape and the color may be altered electronically by means of synthesizers, giving the artist wide parameters within which to exercise his creative powers;
Video, by means of electronic synthesizers, permits the artist to generate electronically colors of a lucidity impossible to achieve by other means;
Black and white videotape may be readily colorized, with complete control on the part of the artist;
Video may be tied into a computer, thus permitting creation of shapes in time and space otherwise impossible to achieve;
Because the TV tube is itself a source of light, video may be used to create an environment independent of other light sources which is not possible with film;
Video has its own kind of space. It permits layering, and thus enables the artist to create the effect of seeing the surface and beneath the surface simultaneously;
Video has its own time; for example, the artist may present the viewer on the TV screen simultaneously as he is and as he was;
Video operates silently. Its subject soon forgets that the camera's eye is upon him,and drops the mask he wears to present himself to the world, revealing himself as he really is. Thus video permits the artist to achieve what painters of many cultures have sought to accomplish-to capture inner reality, not merely surface appearance. This feature also accounts for the politician's reluctance to appear impromptu on TV. ■
2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), one of the world’s leading resources for video and media art. As we celebrate this milestone, EAI will present a rotating series of video features from across our collection and publish a series of oral histories with key figures. To keep up to date on our anniversary activities, please sign up for our e-mail mailing list.