From: cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson)
Subject: "Revue virtuelle" at Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1991 19:13:04 GMT
Organization: Human Interface Technology Lab, Univ. of Wash., Seattle



This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting three French persons
putting together a major virtual worlds art exhibition at Centre
Georges Pompidou, in Paris, next year.  They left with me a summary
of their program.  It states:

	Within the field of the art of the virtual, we intend to
	look at four, slightly overlapping technical sectors:

	    * images which are digitally acquired and processed

	    * synthetic images computed from abstract data and
	      from logical programs and models

	    * devices for interactive manipulation and virtual
	      composition

	    * other synthetic images computed in real time, i.e.,
	      the present time of the observer or user

	If the first two sectors are mainly presented on tradi-
	tional media, including video, the last two are interactive
	and require the use of computers.

	    ... [A] new category of works is emerging which take
	advantage both of the autonomous nature of the synthetic
	image and of its interactive possibilities; by their very
	essence, such images have no existence without the inter-
	vention of the public.  Installations like these, generating
	what are called "virtual environments," are being used for
	artistic research which, once again, hinges on the passage
	from the real to the virtual.  Creation here may take place
	at the interfaces which give access in the different regis-
	ters of sight, sound, and touch; but, even more, in the
	intervention of artificial universes.

	    The Revue virtuelle proposes to put the realm of the
	virtual on display.  It aims not only to identify the
	creators and their works, but also to foster certain signi-
	ficant research initiatives, thereby innovating itself
	where the museology of new artistic techniques is concerned.

	    ... The research program of the MNAM (Musee national
	d'art moderne) and the CCI (Centre de Creation Industrielle)
	[at Centre Georges Pompidou] will include three complementary
	lines of enquiry:

	    * Theory:  the better understanding of the nature of
	      synthetic images and their aesthetic status

	    * Museography:  the different ways of presenting
	      these images and their spaces, of viewing them and
	      archiving them

	    * Creation:  instigating creative projects and help-
	      ing develop a creation-friendly environment


	I have the complete prospectus with me.  To see it, let me know.
For more information from CGP, contact:

	Martine Moinot, CCI, Curator
	Christine Van Assche, MNAM, Curator
	Centre Georges Pompidou
	F-75191 Paris Cedex 04, FRANCE
	(33) (1) 42 77 12 33 telephone
	(33) (1) 42 77 02 72 fax

	Jean-Louis Boissier, Arts et technologies de l'image,
	  Universite Paris VIII, External Curator
	93bis rue de Montreuil
	F-75011 Paris, France
	(33) (1) 43 70 29 38 telephone

	I'm not sure of the relation between Natalie's work and this
exhibition but I suspect there isn't one, directly.

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