New Media Art - History - Billy Kluver

Billy Kluver was born in Monaco 1927, he grew up in Sweden and moved to the United States in 1954. (Intel Corporation, 2000) Kluver was a scientist and engineer who is best known for his collaborations with artists during the 60’s helping to give birth to the multimedia art forms of today. Unfortunately Kluver died of melanoma at the age of 76 on the 11 January 2004 (Johnston, 2004). In addition to his work as an engineer and scientist he published numerous technical and scientific papers and holds ten patents (Larson, 2004).

Kluver graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and in 1954 received a PH. D in Electrical Engineering from the University of California in Berkeley, where he went on to become an assistant professor from 1957-1958 (Bell Labs, 2000).

In 1958 Billy Kluver took up a position at Bell Labs as a member Staff Scientist at Murray Hill (Johnston, 2004). It was at Bell Labs that Kluver was to make possibly one of the largest and most important contributions to the field of Multimedia Art. The people at Bell Labs recognized that one way to accelerate the possibilities of new innovations was to meld the imagination of artists with the possibilities of the future. Indeed at Bell Labs Kluver was sending scientists and engineers out into the world and the workshops of artists, his aim; to get artists and scientists to collaborate together. It was during his time at Bell Labs that Kluver became an honorary citizen of the New York art world (Spivack, 2004).

In the early 1960’s technology began developing rapidly, indeed many artists wanted to work with forms of new technologies but often found themselves shut out. In 1966 Billy Kluver, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Whitman and Fred Waldhauer formed the not for profit organization Experiments in Art and Technology, creating a connection for these artists with technical and industrial communities (Bell Labs, 2000).

Indeed in the early 1960’s, Kluver collaborated with a number of artists on works incorporating new technologies, these included notable artists such as Jean Tinguely, Jasper Johns, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage and Andy Warhol – some extremely influential artists as well as the leaders in the development of Multimedia Art (Bell Labs, 2000).

Possibly one of Kluver’s most prominent collaborations took place in 1960 when he was introduced to sculptor, Jean Tinguely. Tinguely was looking for help in designing his self destroying machine, which was to be displayed in the garden for the Museum of Modern Art and was to be called Homage to New York. Kluver helped to collect items such as bike tires and motors for the machine whose auto destruct happened as planned destructing in explosions of smoke, sparks and noise, taking 27 minutes (Johnston, 2004).

Kluver also participated in another important event in the evolution of Multimedia Art. In 1966, Kluver and Rauschenberg organized the “9 evenings: Theater and Engineering�. The series of performances took place in the 69th Regiment Armory in New York, uniting 10 artists in a collaboration with approximately 30 engineers. The event drew 14000 people and attracted world wide attention and essentially epitomized the break down of the boundaries between the disciplines of art and technology. Giving rise to the inter media that characterized the period, as well as establishing a base for the Multimedia Art of today (Johnston, 2004).

Bibliography & Further Reading:

(2000) ‘Billy Kluver,’ Intel Corporation [Online] Available: http://www.asci.org.BellLabs/Kluver.html [2004, October, 12]

Johnston, J. (2004) ‘Billy Kluver, 1927-2004 – Artworld – Obituary,’ Art in America, [Online], Available: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_3_92/ai_114007009 [2004, October, 20].

Larson K. (2004) ‘Billy Kluver, 76, An Engineer who collaborated with artists dies,’ New York Times, [Online] Available: http://www.nytimes,com/2004/01/13/arts/design/13KLUV.html?ex=1389330000&en=ec5e00a8613368da&ei=50077partner=USERLAND [2004, October, 17].

Leffingwell, E. (2002), ‘Billy Kluver at Sonnabend,’ Art in America, [Online], Available: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_6_90/ai_87023016 [2004, October, 13].

Packer, R.(2000). ‘Homage to New York <1960>,’ Multimedia – From Wagner to Virtual Reality, [Online], Available: http://www.artmuseum.net/w2vr/timeline/Kluver.html [2004, October, 23].

Spivack, J. (2004), ‘Billy Kluver – Thanks,’ Art & Science Collaboration, Inc.[Online], Available: http://www.asci.org/artikel544.html [2004, October, 23].

Lauren Porter 12:26, 9 Sep 2004 (EST)

Lauren Porter 10:01, 29 Oct 2004 (EST)