IS IT SCIENCE? IS IT ART?

...asked Alice, on her way to the on-line pretense called
the 'ROYAL HOLOGRAPHIC ART GALLERY'
where titles, names and whereabouts are not what they appear to be...

...which we made in 1977 as kind of a SPATIAL TEST PATTERN...

"This piece of glass is actually a white-light hologram, called 'CRYSTAL BEGINNING',
which we originally made in 1977 as a kind of spatial test pattern,
but people liked looking at it too..."

-- Dr. Stephen A. Benton (Polaroid and M.I.T)
on WGBH, Boston, NOVA -- 'Artists in the Lab', 1981

SOME KIND OF NEW DISPLAY MEDIUM?

Spatial Imaging Group, M.I.T.

WHAT IS IT?

'RIND' by S.A. Benton... or ESCHER?

A 'ROYAL HOLOGRAPHIC ART' FORM?

(...by Special Appointment to Her Majesty, the 'Red Queen'?)

'OFF WITH THEIR HEADS?'
'CRITICAL LIBRARY' - WAVEFRONT MAGAZINE

WELL, LET'S CONSIDER...

...how it all began, in the 60's and 70's.... First, with the invention of the laser, then early scientific imaging expriments....no problem here. But soon, something called HOLOGRAPHIC ART is carried forth, proclaimed by artists, technicians, and early enthusiasts alike. And ever since, it - the ART - has had a 'tough' time establishing itself in media cultures and galleries of the 70's, 80's, 90's. Most people today think 'holographic art' refers to the sticker on their credit card. No kidding. Really! And many 'HOLOGRAPHIC ART GALLERIES' insist that EVERYTHING they offer, from stickers to framed 'goblins' and 'cyber creatures' IS ART. No kidding.
So...this thing called HOLOGRAPHIC ART, as a child of both scientific-technical and aesthetic parents, has 'suffered' from both a 'peculiar upbringing'...and a peculiar 'fate'.

Early scientific prejudices towards 'bright', 'noise-less', 'high-efficiency' recording and display predisposed many in these communities against 'bad technique' at the hands of 'artists'. After all, holography was simply a 'spatial imaging tool' some must have intoned. And prominent scientific-technical holographers thought nothing of including themselves in exhibitions, perhaps as 'artists themselves', and often contributing works of inane and generic subject matter rendered with 'brilliant technique'.

'Oh, look at these!'

'GORO BLOCKS' by Prof. Goro

...'after all, it is still an INFANTILE medium?', she may have thought.

The other 'parent', the 'art world' has (over three decades) either dismissed holographic art as a 'contrivance', 'technical gimmick', or 'infantile medium' (presumably the same treatment afforded early photography, film, and video), or it has shunned holographic art because it can't fathom the special qualities of this new medium. (Scientific 'how-to-make-a-hologram' introductions to shows haven't helped either.) Many curators and critics alike have attempted to evaluate works based on aesthetic and historical premises borrowed from other mediums (like the 'modern art' of painting...).
And the general public finds itself justifiably confused, since all it 'gets' is what is known as DISPLAY HOLOGRAPHY.

...and, turning a corner, into the Royal Fine Arts section,

'EEK!, What's that?' exclaimed Alice

'Psycho Hands'

'Or this?'

...to the CHESHIRE CAT

who had a feline habit of appearing/disappearing while chasing it's fractal-shadows
...and by NOW was certainly in need of a EYE DOCTOR!

'What's that?', you might ask. Well, it is the CURRENT GENRE of everything 'holographic' and 'artsy' featuring a melange of embossed greetings, logos and playing cards, funny glasses, all kinds of kitch images selling alongside presumed 'renowned works of art', next to holo-store embossed holographic stickers, trinkets and dichromate jewelry...all typically thrown together and displayed in VERY 'MYSTERIOUS' retail outlets that HYPE THE 'LASER-TECH', with little said about the content of the hologram, the concepts, the histories, the ideas....

'But sir...!'

'I'm at a loss!'

'HUSH, HUSH!' said the ROYAL HUSHER 'Only PROPER and POLITE language allowed in here!' And he pointed to the signs about the place.

'But Sir!' Alice protested. 'I'm at a loss! Is EVERYONE so polite and proper in this place of CURIOS and CURIOSER?'

(What the RED QUEEN said about BEING POLITE...)

'CURIOS?' exclaimed the Husher. 'She said CURIOS!!!'

'...and to use such STRONG language in such a ROYAL and ARTISTIC, not to mention well-appointed, and quite CRAMMED with ROYAL memorabilia, and SO EXPENSIVE a place, as this...', he muttered to his two new-found selves, TWIDDLE DEE and TWIDDLE DUMB.....

!

'Oh my! Oh my! What have I done?',
Alice cried out, realizing that the ROYAL HUSHER had now split in TWO!.

THE ROYAL OWNERS RESPOND!

...no kidding

WORSE? BEGETTING 'WORSE'?
WORSE THAN NEW-AGE NON-SENSE?

Actually.... it was a lot 'worse' than Alice could have 'IMAGINED'!

Because in and BEYOND Wonderland.... the MALLS of NEW-AGE 'GOOD VIBRATION' COMMERCE had sprung up ALL ABOUT:

and in 'THREE DEE LAND', now MICKEY'S OWN.....

and even in the AVANT-GARDE LEATHER SHOPS!....
(but these are stories better told and re-told by CRITICS OF, and ELSEWHERE)

'Perhaps the MAD HATTER can make some SENSE of this for me?' she wondered.

And then, realizing that HUSHERS were capable of SPLITTING and SPLITTING,
until there WAS NO END IN SIGHT of ALL THEIR 'GOOD VIBRATION' CLAIMS,
she turned to run in the direction of THE MAD HATTER'S 'ROYAL HOLO-PARTY', somewhere in a Land called 'Ventura'...

But then, all of a sudden, or once again, depending on your whereabouts, the RED QUEEN arrived and made her move!

or, conversely: 'The Plot Thickened...'

XAR

[TOP OF PAGE]

Related topics:

VIDEO: 'WEST-COAST ARTISTS IN LIGHT'

A videotape survey of 10 artists and their work

REFLECTIONS ON WAVEFRONT MAGAZINE

History, links to interviews, reviews, articles on holographic art and culture

HOLOGRAPHIC ART AT VISUAL ALCHEMY
History, links to works by Al Razutis 1972-1988

INTERNATIONAL ART - HOLOGRAPHY SITES:

HOLOGRAPHIC ART ARCHIVES:

HOLONET (GERMANY)

Containing world-wide resources and links to news and galleries,
biographies, critical papers, major collectors, history and practice;
oriented towards the ART of Holography - URS FRIES, web-master

SHEARWATER FOUNDATION

Home Page of Shearwater Foundation - funding for Holographic Arts
Pages on Grant Programs, Archives, Awards, Application Process World-wide reference

HOLOGRAPHIC ART AND ARTISTS:

ART IN HOLOGRAPHY.ORG
Main Page - 1990 and 1996 SYMPOSIA on 'ART AND HOLOGRAPHY'
Pages on Artists, Topics, Links, Essays - World-wide reference

EDUARDO KAC - Domain Home Page
Holopoetry, installations, provocative and changing art.
Articles, resume and holographic art by Eduardo Kac.

SHARON MACCORMACK - Holography
Integral holography by one of the S.F. School of Holography original members.
Still windsurfing the holo winds.

WEBSEUM - NEWS:

INTERNET WEBSEUM OF HOLOGRAPHY

General interest site, containing on-line interviews, news, writings by FRANK DEFREITAS.
Oriented towards the general public and practice of Display Holography.

'OFF WITH THEIR HEADS?'
CRITICAL WRITINGS - LOCAL MAP

LOCAL DIRECTORIES:

[VISUAL ALCHEMY - HOME] [HOLOGRAPHIC ART - ARCHIVES]

[3D VIDEO] [ WAVEFRONT HOLOGRAPHY MAGAZINE]

[VIRTUAL REALITY - (VRML) ]

INTERNATIONAL ART - HOLOGRAPHY SITES:

HOLOGRAPHIC ART ARCHIVES:

HOLOGRAPHIC ART AND ARTISTS:

WEBSEUM - NEWS:

IS IT SCIENCE? IS IT ART?

SOME KIND OF NEW DISPLAY MEDIUM?

WHAT IS IT?

A 'ROYAL HOLOGRAPHIC ART' FORM?

'Oh, look at these!'

...'after all, it is still an INFANTILE medium?', she may have thought.

...and, turning a corner, into the Royal Fine Arts section,

'EEK!, What's that?' exclaimed Alice

'Or this?'

...to the CHESHIRE CAT

'But sir...!'

'I'm at a loss!'

'HUSH, HUSH!' said the ROYAL HUSHER 'Only PROPER and POLITE language allowed in here!' And he pointed to the signs about the place.

'But Sir!' Alice protested. 'I'm at a loss! Is EVERYONE so polite and proper in this place of CURIOS and CURIOSER?'

(What the RED QUEEN said about BEING POLITE...)

!

'Oh my! Oh my! What have I done?',
Alice cried out, realizing that the ROYAL HUSHER had now split in TWO!.

WORSE? BEGETTING 'WORSE'?
WORSE THAN NEW-AGE NON-SENSE?

Actually.... it was a lot 'worse' than Alice could have 'IMAGINED'!

Because in and BEYOND Wonderland.... the MALLS of NEW-AGE 'GOOD VIBRATION' COMMERCE had sprung up ALL ABOUT:

and in 'THREE DEE LAND', now MICKEY'S OWN.....

and even in the AVANT-GARDE LEATHER SHOPS!....
(but these are stories better told and re-told by CRITICS OF, and ELSEWHERE)

'Perhaps the MAD HATTER can make some SENSE of this for me?' she wondered.

XAR

[TOP OF PAGE]

IS IT SCIENCE? IS IT ART?

SOME KIND OF NEW DISPLAY MEDIUM?

WHAT IS IT?

A 'ROYAL HOLOGRAPHIC ART' FORM?

'Oh, look at these!'

...'after all, it is still an INFANTILE medium?', she may have thought.

...and, turning a corner, into the Royal Fine Arts section,

'EEK!, What's that?' exclaimed Alice

'Or this?'

...to the CHESHIRE CAT

'But sir...!'

'I'm at a loss!'

'HUSH, HUSH!' said the ROYAL HUSHER 'Only PROPER and POLITE language allowed in here!' And he pointed to the signs about the place.

'But Sir!' Alice protested. 'I'm at a loss! Is EVERYONE so polite and proper in this place of CURIOS and CURIOSER?'

(What the RED QUEEN said about BEING POLITE...)

!

'Oh my! Oh my! What have I done?', Alice cried out, realizing that the ROYAL HUSHER had now split in TWO!.

WORSE? BEGETTING 'WORSE'? WORSE THAN NEW-AGE NON-SENSE?

Actually.... it was a lot 'worse' than Alice could have 'IMAGINED'!

Because in and BEYOND Wonderland.... the MALLS of NEW-AGE 'GOOD VIBRATION' COMMERCE had sprung up ALL ABOUT: and in 'THREE DEE LAND', now MICKEY'S OWN..... and even in the AVANT-GARDE LEATHER SHOPS!.... (but these are stories better told and re-told by CRITICS OF, and ELSEWHERE)

'Perhaps the MAD HATTER can make some SENSE of this for me?' she wondered.

XAR

[TOP OF PAGE]

INTERNATIONAL ART - HOLOGRAPHY SITES:

HOLOGRAPHIC ART ARCHIVES:

HOLOGRAPHIC ART AND ARTISTS:

WEBSEUM - NEWS:

'Oh my! Oh my! What have I done?',
Alice cried out, realizing that the ROYAL HUSHER had now split in TWO!.

WORSE? BEGETTING 'WORSE'?
WORSE THAN NEW-AGE NON-SENSE?

Because in and BEYOND Wonderland.... the MALLS of NEW-AGE 'GOOD VIBRATION' COMMERCE had sprung up ALL ABOUT:

and in 'THREE DEE LAND', now MICKEY'S OWN.....

and even in the AVANT-GARDE LEATHER SHOPS!....
(but these are stories better told and re-told by CRITICS OF, and ELSEWHERE)