La Belle Epoque: Evoking Proust's Place and Time
Elizabeth Jameson: Splendorform
The Photographic Impulse: Selections from the Joseph and Elaine Monsen Collection
Imaging the Orient
Along the Silk Road: Rugs and Textiles from Syria to China
Cheap Thrills: Great Designs for $5 or Less
Worn: Social Roles Revealed
Superflat
Jeffry Mitchell: HanabukiE.A.T. Experiments in Art and Technology
North Galleries, Media Gallery and Mezzanine
September 6, 2002 – December 1, 2002
On October 25 and 26, an historic Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) Northwest Reunion and Symposium was held at the University of Washington, drawing long-overdue attention to a significant chapter in the history of Northwest art. E.A.T., a nonprofit organization founded in New York in 1966 by Billy Kluver, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Whitman, Fred Waldhauer, and others, gave artists access to new technologies, including video, electronics, and computers.
In the 1960s and 70s, the Henry’s Associate Director LaMar Harrington made the museum a hub for E.A.T. light shows, performances, experimental films and new media installations. These programs led to a upsurge of new media artwork in the region and spawned what later became 911 Media Arts, the Center on Contemporary Art, On the Boards, Jack Straw Productions and Artist Trust.
A number of Henry activities were planned to coincide with the E.A.T. Northwest Reunion, including the exhibition “Rauschenberg, Booster” (October 1- November 17); screenings of influential films from the series “9 Evenings: Theater and Engineering” documenting E.A.T. performances by Rauschenberg, John Cage and many other (September 6- October 6); and the presentation of photographs of a 1969 installation by Hans Haacke entitled “Wind Room” (September 6- December 1). This work, commissioned by the Henry in 1969 under the auspices of E.A.T., was recently rediscovered in the museum archives.