[ISEA98] Panel: Rob Fisher (moderator) – The Computers and Sculptors Revolution: Projects from Europe and the United States.

Panel Statement

With Christian LaVigne, Keith Brown & Martin Sperka

During the past decade there has emerged a revolution in the application of the computer as a tool for sculpture. With little or no awareness of similar investigations world wide, sculptors from many countries developed personal and often radical new approaches to the creation of forms as varied as traditional casting and carving to virtual objects, environments, and interactivity. The number of sculptors using computers grows yearly and now numbers in the hundreds. A panel on Computers and Sculpture developments in the UK, Europe and the United States.

English sculptor Keith Brown will present works from members of FAST-UK (Fine Art Sculptors & Technology in the UK). This new organization parallels the imilar organization of over one-hundred sculptors using computers in the US. Rob Fisher will present a number of new projects by principal members of the US group including Tim Duffield, David Morris, Bruce Beasley, Helaman Ferguson, among many others.

Martin Sperka, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, from Slovak and Czech Republics will feature the work of Jozef Jankovic (1995 Venice biennale, ), Juraj Bartusz (sculptor and concept artist), Milos Boda (New Media in Art, Slovakia, 1994: light sculpture with computer generated music); Alena Patoprsta, (computer and video); Zdenka Cechova, Czech multimedia artist, living in Prague (one of pioneers of Computer Art; author of the computer controlled “Singing water fountain” in Prague. Lastly, much has been said about how the computer will facilitate communication and learning between nations — particularly between “developed” and “developing” nations.

Christian LaVigne (director of Ars Mathematica) from Paris will make a presentation on his contacts with third world artists from Mali and Senegal as well as reports on the work of sculptors in France, Germany and Spain.

  • Christian LaVigne, FR
  • Keith Brown, UK
  • Martin Sperka, Slovakia
  • Rob Fisher [1939-2006] USA, was a Senior Research Artist and Fellow at the Studio for Creative Inquiry, Carnegie Mellon University. He served as Artistic Director and Co-producer for “Journey Into the Living Cell”, a highly acclaimed interactive planetarium programme on Cell Biology. He has recently been awarded another National Science Foundation grant for a major new interactive planetarium show on the Brain which will travel through-out the US. He received a BSc. degree in Humanities, Visual Design and Engineer-ing from MIT in 1961 and a MSc. degree in Industrial Design from Syracuse University in 1965. Mr. Fisher serves on the Board of Directors of the International Sculpture Center and is directing the development of a major new Web site for the organization. He is an internationally recognized artist who has received numerous commissions for monumental sculptures in Japan, Saudi Arabia and the US. During the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta he was commissioned to illuminate the top of Nations Bank Plaza. His computer-assisted artwork has been the subject of numerous articles including Leonardo Journal and has been featured on CNN and USIA World Net. Mr. Fisher has presented at ISEA Symposia in Groningen, Minneapolis, Montreal, and Rotterdam. groundsforsculpture.org/artists/rob-fisher