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...).