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<p class="MsoNormal">In conjunction with the launch of the new MIT
Press/Leonardo
Book Series title <i>Signs of Life: Bio Art and Beyond</i>, edited by
Eduardo
Kac and <i>From Technological Art to Virtual Art</i> by Frank Popper
(MIT
Press/Leonardo Book Series), Leonardo/Olats and the Paris Art School
have
organized a round table:<br>
<br>
"The Art-Science-Technology Relations as seen through the Leonardo Book
Series at MIT Press"<br>
Tuesday, 26 June 2007<br>
6 – 8 pm<br>
Ensba – Paris Art School<br>
14 rue Bonaparte – 75006 Paris<br>
Conference Room – 1st Floor<br>
<br>
Participants include: Roger Malina, Chair of Leonardo/ISAST and
Leonardo/Olats;
Frank Popper, author of <i>From Technological to Virtual Art</i>;
Eduardo Kac, editor
of <i>Signs of Life: Bio Art and Beyond</i>; and moderator Annick
Bureaud.<br>
<br>
This round table will question the relationship of art, science and
technology
as seen through the Leonardo Book Series at MIT Press. Eduardo Kac and
Frank
Popper will present their books and points of view on the role and
issues of
publishing for new art forms. When new art forms emerge what role do
artists
play with their theoretical books in creating a public space for
discussion?
What are the connections between artworks and books in the body of work
of an
artist? What discourses and approaches on technoscientific art are
emerging from
the Leonardo Book Series? What are the aesthetic, theoretical and
historical
issues within this collection and more specifically within the two
books that will
be presented and discussed?<br>
<br>
* * * * *<br>
<br>
In 1993, alongside its journals, Leonardo/ISAST launched a book series
at MIT
Press. The Leonardo Book Series publishes texts by artists, scientists,
researchers and scholars that present innovative discourse on the
convergence
of art, science and technology. Envisioned as a catalyst for
enterprise,
research and creative and scholarly experimentation, the series enables
diverse
intellectual communities to explore common grounds of expertise. The
Leonardo
Book Series, under the direction of Editor-in-Chief Sean Cubitt,
provides for
the contextualization of contemporary practice, ideas and frameworks
represented by those working at the intersection of art, science and
technology. The Leonardo Book Series Advisory Board, appointed by
Cubitt in
June 2006, includes Annick Bureaud, Laura Marks, Anna Munster, Michael
Punt,
Sundar Sarukkai, Joel Slayton and Eugene Thacker.<br>
<br>
Nearly fifteen years later, with 28 titles published, covering a varied
field,
the Leonardo Book Series proposes a basis for reflection, both
retrospective
and prospective, about the art-science-technology relations to put into
perspective the role of publishing in this domain.<br>
<br>
The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Paris</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Art</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">School</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>
library, in collaboration with the bookstore Flammarion Centre, of the
Centre
Georges Pompidou, will have Leonardo Book series titles on hand at the
event.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">More about the series, and to purchase books
online, visit:<br>
<a href="http://www.leonardo.info/isast/leobooks.html">http://www.leonardo.info/isast/leobooks.html</a><br>
<br>
* * * * *<br>
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS<br>
<br>
Roger Malina<br>
Chair, Leonardo/ISAST and Leonardo/Olats<br>
<br>
Roger F. Malina is an astronomer and editor. He is a CNRS researcher at
the
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique in <st1:City w:st="on">Marseille</st1:City>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region> and former
director of the EUVE NASA
Laboratory at the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">California</st1:PlaceName>, <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Berkeley</st1:place></st1:City>.
He is Chair of Leonardo/ISAST, <st1:City w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:City>
and
the Association Leonardo/Olats in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:City>.
He writes on art and science and has a specific interest for the
cultural
impact of space activities.<br>
<br>
<br>
Frank Popper<br>
Author of <i>From Technological to Virtual Art</i> (January 2007)<br>
<br>
In his book <i>From Technological to Virtual Art</i>, Frank Popper
traces the
development of immersive, interactive new media art from its historical
antecedents through today's digital, multimedia, and networked art.
Popper
shows that contemporary virtual art is a further refinement of the
technological art of the late twentieth century and also a departure
from it.
What is new about this new media art, he argues, is its humanization of
technology, its emphasis on interactivity, its philosophical
investigation of
the real and the virtual, and its multi-sensory nature. After
describing
artistic forerunners of virtual art from 1918 to 1983 -- including art
that
used light, movement, and electronics -- Popper looks at contemporary
new media
forms and artists. He surveys works that are digital-based but
materialized,
multimedia off-line works, interactive digital installations, and
multimedia
on-line works (net art) by many artists, among them John Maeda, Jenny
Holzer,
Brenda Laurel, Agnes Hegedus, Stelarc, and Igor Stromajer.<br>
<br>
The Author:<br>
Frank Popper is Professor Emeritus of Aesthetics and the Science of Art
at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Paris VIII</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>. He
is the author of Origins
and Development of Kinetic Art; Art, Action, and Participation; Art of
the
Electronic Age and other influential works on art and technology.<br>
<br>
<br>
Eduardo Kac<br>
Editor of <i>Signs of Life: Bio Art and Beyond</i> (June 2007)<br>
<br>
Bio-art is a new art form that has emerged from the cultural impact and
increasing accessibility of contemporary biotechnology. <i>Signs of
Life</i> is
the first book to focus exclusively on art that uses biotechnology as
its
medium, defining and discussing the theoretical and historical
implications of
bio-art and offering examples of work by prominent artists. The
contributors to
<i>Signs of Life</i> articulate the critical theory of bio-art and
document its
fundamental works. The writers--who include such prominent scholars as
Barbara
Stafford, Eugene Thacker, and Dorothy Nelkin--consider the culture and
aesthetics of biotechnology, the ethical and philosophical aspects of
bio-art,
and biology in art history. The section devoted to artworks and artists
includes George Gessert's "Why I Breed Plants", Oron Catts and Ionat
Zurr's "Semi-Living Art", Marc Quinn's "Genomic Portrait", and
Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey's "Chlorophyll". <br>
<br>
The author:<br>
Eduardo Kac is an internationally renowned artist who has received
critical
acclaim for net and bio works including Genesis, GFP Bunny, and Move
36. His
work has been widely exhibited and is in the permanent collections of
the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Museum</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Modern Art</st1:PlaceName>
in <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State> and the <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Museum</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Modern Art</st1:PlaceName> in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Rio de Janeiro</st1:City></st1:place>,
among others.<br style="">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Visit the Leonardo Book Series on-line for more
information
about all titles in the series, to purchase titles, or how to submit a
proposal: <a href="http://www.leonardo.info/isast/leobooks.html">http://www.leonardo.info/isast/leobooks.html</a><br>
<br>
Leonardo/ISAST is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Donations are
tax-deductible in the U.S. To learn more about Leonardo/ISAST's
projects, programs and activities, visit <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://leonardo.info">http://leonardo.info</a><br>
<br>
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