Comment on Holography Pioneers

ARTjSCIENCE FORUM SHEARWATER FOUNDATION ANNUAL HOLOGRAPHY AWARDS PosyJackson Smith The Shearwater Foundation, New York, is one of the few U.S. foundations currently funding artists in holography . It is perhaps the only foundation worldwide that has set up a program to identify and support the highest artistic achievement in the field. Each year since 1987, the Shearwater Foundation has honored a group of holographic artists who have a distinguished record of creative excellence , by awarding up to 10 awards annually. The Holography Program, which administers the awards for the FounPosyJackson Smith (arts management consultant, curator). P.o. Box 2850. KeyLargo. FL 33037. U.S.A. Received 22January 1988 and 28 November 1988. COMMENT ON HOLOGRAPHY PIONEERS Richard Rallison's portrayal of holographers as pioneers, in this issue of Leonardo, tells an important story. Holography began its infancy when lasers were invented by Theodore Maiman at Hughes Laboratories in 1960. Nobel Prize winner Dennis Gabor conceived of holography in 1947 during his research with the electron microscope, but his holographic efforts were limited by a single beam of light from sources that were less intense and less coherent than light produced by lasers. Emmett Leith used a prism to tilt the reference wave and cause it to interfere with the waves issuing from a photographic transparency . Holograms made with Leith's technique are the two-beam or offset holograms common to today's generation of holographers. Stephen Benton of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pioneered the white-light or 'rainbow' hologram. C> 1989ISAST Pergamon Press plc,Printed inGreat Britain. oo24-094X/89$3.00+0.00 dation, was initiated in 1987 to promote and encourage the art of holography by providing support and recognition to preeminent artists in the field. The awards honor selected artists whose work has attained the highest caliber of artistic achievement . The 1987 awards went to artists who had been active in the field for at least 8 years; the 1988 awards to artists active for at least 5 years. "These artists ", announced the Foundation's Board, "have provided the standard of excellence for the entire field." In December 1987, the Foundation announced that its Board of Directors had made awards totalling (U.S.) $60,000 to six artists in holography, in recognition of their exemplary work in the field. The holographers, three from the United States and three from other countries, were each awarded $10,000 to further their work and to encourage the art of holography . The recipients were Margaret Benyon (England), Rudie Berkhout (Holland), Harriet Casdin-Silver (United States), Sam Moree (United col\1l\1El\;TAR\' Lloyd Cross and Peter Claudius eventually used two-dimensional movie footage to create holographic stereograms at the San Francisco Multiplex Company, which now supplies them to an amazed audience. jeffrey Murray of the Holography Institute has created variations of the 16-foot and 8-foot vibration isolation tables that are inexpensive and bring holography within the financial realm of the average artist. His recent invention , the 'Murrayometer', enables holographers to position the white-lightviewable copies in the same position every time they create them without the trial-and-error methods of the past. Holographers face an uncharted wildernesss of gallery owners who do not know or care to learn how to display and retail holograms; an ignorant public that wants inexpensive, instant 'fast-food' results from art and artists and thinks that holograms should walk, talk, sing and dance; suppliers who do not know when they will be able to get the holographer States), Ruben Nunez (Venezuela) and Daniel Schweitzer (United States). In November 1988 the Foundation awarded $60,000 to six artists. The holographers , four from the United States and two from other countries, were each awarded $10,000 to further their art. The recipients were Rebecca Deem (United States), Setsuko Ishii (japan), Dieterjung (Germany ), john Kaufman (United States), Douglas Tyler (United States) and Doris Vila (United States). The Shearwater Foundation Holography Award recipients are selected each year by the Foundation's Board of Directors at its annual meeting. Nominations for these awards are provided by a confidential group of advisors who represent the international field of art holography. The Foundation does not accept applications or solicitations...