Letters

Letters Readers’ comments are welcomed on texts published in Leonardo. The Editors reserve the right to shorten letters. Letters should be written in English and sent to the Main Editorial OMice. Comments on “Magic Wall: A Multimonitor, Computer-Controlled Installation” At last, video is made suitable for presentation on a largephysicalscaleby meansof the ‘Video Wall’. The use of a large number of screens constituting one plane of mosaic image is already seen in the non-artistic world. For example, in Paris, France, I have seen multiscreens used in a warehouse to offer information to customers about events in several stores. The work of art Magic Wall (Leonardo 17, 87 (1984) attracts special attention for several reasons: 1. A multitude of possibilities exists for combinations and variations for the collaboration of artists. 2. The structuring of the presentation by switching combinations of images and their rate of presentation can be of aesthetic importance and isan extension of the useof the dimension of time in traditional film art. 3. The system of ‘repetition’, ‘simultaneity’, ‘series’ and ‘gradual changes’ is used to emphasize the images and their realistic meaning as well as to have an effect of alienation, both of which lead to heightened consciousnessand intensivereceptivity-factors 111. 4. The relative situation of the viewer is changed compared to a single television (TV) screen;here a large audience can be present, in contrast to the more limited audience at a single video screen. 5. This video wall is not suitable (or intended) for the home TV/video, but for presentation in museums as an expansion toward monumental scale and ‘expanded cinema’. A special installation for the broadcasting of music has to be available, as is already the caseat the Museum of Modern Art, New York [2]. 6. The use of the computer and electronics expands the possibilities of expression and promotes the blurring of the boundaries between the arts, so there is talk of a certain ‘Gesamkunstwerk’ or a ‘Video-Opera’. 7. There remains the problem, however, to find a sufficiently interesting content, which showsmore than technical inventions. A more narrative and complex structure will perhaps offer new developments [3]. 1. References /Notes (a) Compare the series of images in paintings of A. Warhol and the nearly static images of his films. (b) D. Gigliotti, “Observations on the Scope of Multi-Channel Videowork”, in I. Schneider and B. Korot, eds., Video Art, an Anthology (New York, London: 1976) p.214, “Multi-channel work demands a different kind of attention. As our perceptual focus widens, we begin to ask ourselves: How is this work to be viewed? Do these channels all carry information of the same value?’’ (c) M. Hoare, “Psychophysics of Time”, Leonardo 7 (1974) pp. 43,45. (a) At the Documenta VI, Kassel, Germany, 1977, one could see multichannel video installations, which followed a special scheme of timely changes, for example, by B. Korot, V. Export and N. J. Paik. (b) U. Krempel, “Video als Kunst, Kunst im Video”, Kunsr undMedien. Tendenzm 52 e Jrg, No. 145 (JadMarch 1984) pp.16, 17. (c) See M. Hartney, “At Thirty Frames a Second”, Studio International 196, No. 1000 (July 1983)pp. 16, 17regarding the “Roy and Niuta Titus Theatre 2” in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. G. Lascault, “La tres sage neuvieme biennale de Paris”, revue d ’Esthetique 1 (1976) p. 371, “In video art many of the artists are fascinated too long by their own ideas, and they mistrust the narrative.” W.M. Kaiser Looydijk I49 3731 VA De Bilt The Netherlands Comments: Museum Design I must congratulate you on the strikingly juxtaposed interviews with Drs Oppenheimer and Wilson (Leonardo 17.75 (1984)).Both are telling demonstrations of the vital roles that clients can and should play in the total design process. Of course, in these cases, each was an unusually well-informed and concerned client, and though each went a seperate wayreflecting his own personality-the resulting environments are in turn exceptional. The ‘aesthetic’ input of Dr Oppenheimer emphasizes exploration and experience; Dr Wilson’s emphasizes harmony and beauty. This diversity is healthy today. Nothing is worse for a museum in the making than a disinterested client. Nothing is more...