Abstract

When I presented first in 1987 my concept of an Electronic Bauhaus, I pointed to the statement of Sibyl Moholy-Nagy that the school was the catalyst of the visual revolution for the twentieth century. The content and the dimensions have completely shifted since then towards greater scales, greater demands. Our actual environment enlarged towards the biosphere, mainly articulated and anticipated by researchers-philosophers like Vladimir Vernadsky (1863-1945) and Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955). With Vernadsky the biosphere is as much or even more the creation of the Sun as the manifestation of earthly processes. It is the idea of space and the biosphere that enters into today’s Electronic Bauhaus. To be a student of space means to be first of all a student of the biosphere.

• Jürgen Claus (DE/BE) was Fellow and Research Affiliate at the CAVS at MIT, Cambridge, MA and professor at the Academy of Media Art Cologne. He exhibited at Electra, Paris 1983/84, ars electronica 1986, Light art from artificial light, Karlsruhe 2005/6. His work include underwater, solar art sculptures and 15 books.

Full text (PDF) p.  308-309