Gateway

GATE\IVAY GATEWAY is a new sectionIfLeonardo, intended as a means to bringreaders an additional dimensionIfinformationnot previouslyfoond in this publication. In GATEWAY we wiUbe reportingon significantevents, includingconferences and expositions; news If interestingdevelopments in technology and science as theyrelateto the arts;news aboot peopleIfinterestto the Leonardo audience; tutoriaUeveldiscussions Ifimportant technologies and sciencefor the non~. GATEWAY wiUliterallyserveas a portal throughwhich the reader canpass, accumulatinginformationaboot the events,people, placesand developments that are shaping the art Iftomorrow. We welcome readers' suggestions and contributions tofuture sections. MULTIMEDIA, VIRTUAL REALITY AND ALL THAT BABBLE You do not have to read computer magazines to be aware of the latest rages in digital technology. The current barrage of marketing hype involves two 'new' areas of technology that ought to have widespread implications for the arts, multimedia and virtual technology. 'Multimedia' is the term coined by Apple Computer to encompass computer graphics, video, audio and hypertext on a personal computer-presumably in an intelligently integrated fashion. Though there are many who challenge the notion that a multimedia market exists, the tools are certainly available now-and each day become more abundant, accessible and less expensive. Two components of the multimedia phenomenon are worth understanding and being aware of. First is the ability to generate photorealistic images, a product of advances in display resolution and color. Second is the ability to animate images and generate output on a host of media, adding a kinetic dimension to the digital artist's toolkit. Animation has, of course, been with us for many years, but it is only in the last year or so that it has been reasonably available to the common user. 'Virtual reality' has captured the fancy of the mass media and, while it is still prohibitive financially as a widespread artistic medium, it holds the potential of becoming a whole new genre of art, perhaps in terms of the ultimately personalized expression of performance art. But a single virtual reality system still costs well in excess of (U.S.) $100,000 today, keeping it in the realm of novel, but yet impractical , tools. Rest assured, however, that a great deal of R&D money will be spent over the next few years to make Cl199l1SAST Pergamon Press pic.Printed inGreat Brdain. oo24-094X/91 53.00+0.00 virtual reality tools affordable, accessible and easy to use. Leonardo has a long history of publishing in this area. Several of the seminal works in virtual reality and advanced computer graphics were published here, including Myron W. Krueger, "VIDEOPlACE: A Report from the Artificial Reality Laboratory" (Leonardo, 18, No.3, 1985) and Stephen R. Ellis, "Pictorial Communication : Pictures and the Synthetic Universe" (Leonardo, 23, No.1, 1990). Randall A. Stickrod INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF AsTRONAUTICS HOSTS SPACE ARTISTS The annual International Astronautics Congress is not normally an event one would associate with the contemporary arts. However, the International Academy of Astronautics has recently hosted a number of artists and art scholars at congress sessions on "The Effects of Space Activities on the Arts and Literature". Organised by the academy's recently formed Subcommittee on the Arts and Literature , the sessions have provided a window and showcase on some unusual artmaking. At the most recent congress held in October 1990 in Dresden, Germany, artist Arthur Woods presented the plans of the Orbiting Unification Ring (OUR) Foundation to launch an orbiting space sculpture during 1992, the International Space Year. This kind of artmaking has traditionally aroused the ire of scientists concerned about light pollution and orbiting space debris. In another paper, French choreographer Kitsou Dubois presented experimental data on the ability of trained dancers to maintain a sense of orientation while exposed to conflicting sensory information, as is often the case in zero gravity environments encountered in space. Dubois presented ideas for choreography in zero gravity and argued that astronauts could benefit from dance training . The International Academy of Astronautics announced a call for papers on "Space Settlements and Space Architecture", which will include presentations both by artists and engineers; this session will be held at the International Astronautical Congress to be held in Montreal, Canada, in October 1991. Further information can be obtained be writing to the IAA, 6 rue Galilee, Paris, 75016 France. Fax...