Rauschenberg and Klüver working on Oracle, 1965, via Phaidon.com
Above is a photo of artist Robert Rauschenberg and engineer Billy Klüver working on Oracle (1965). Klüver explained the origins of the artwork: “Bob Rauschenberg… had asked me to collaborate on a project with him. He wanted to build an interactive environment, where the temperature, sound, smell, lights etc. would change as you moved through it.” Two years later, the two would help co-found Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), to develop collaborations between artists and engineers.
Fifty years later, Texas Tech University College of Visual & Performing Arts (CVPA) has announced that it’s catching up to these guys. The newly created Interdisciplinary Design, Arts & Technology (IDAT) track is a liberal arts degree that features specialized training in the arts with an orientation toward technology and design. The Texas Tech press release states that it “may be of particular interest to students preparing for a career combining or integrating such fields as art direction, game design, event design, interactive and convergent media, animation, app design, song writing, sound design for time-based media and concept art.”
Cool.
