Birth of a New Medium

Did the efforts of ARPA and the Xerox PARC directly lead to multimedia art? Were they the first footsteps in the field, or were they simply a necessary step before multimedia art could begin to take place?

While it is clear that there was nothing overtly “artistic” about ARPANET or the work of Xerox PARC, it is important to note the concepts with which they both dealt. ARPA was concerned, mostly, with the creation of networks between computers for the transmission of information. As Engelbart displayed with his “oNLine System,” it was possible for separate computers to communicate with each other. While this had obvious implications for the military and academia, it had similar, less direct implications for art. Multimedia art, it has been noted, is often concerned with interactivity. With ARPANET, or Englebart’s “oNLine System,” it was possible to change information on another computer. To today’s viewer, this would be seen as little more than a primitive form of email, but in reality, the connection between two computers reflects the essence of multimedia art. No longer were these two computers and their users having separate and different experiences, but they were sharing an experience.

Additionally, Xerox PARC, which during this time was dealing with the idea of creating a sort of portable, personal computing device, was dealing with another aspect of multimedia art. Multimedia pieces often strive to deemphasize the importance of authors. Many multimedia pieces invite viewers to change what they see in a piece. Recently in the AU museum, one piece looked at the colors of people’s clothing, hair, etc., in addition to movement, and reflected those colors and movements in itself.

This is precisely what Xerox PARC was attempting to do. While it’s obvious that they were not thinking about “art,” per se when they were theorizing about what would later become laptop computers, they were thinking about giving the power of computers to a wider audience. At the time, computers were really only owned by government agencies and academic institutions, as they were simply too expensive for consumers, and also were really only designed to deal with rough data and calculations. Alan Kay, working at PARC, spoke of how personal computers would encompass “all other media.” They would no longer be restricted to making long calculations, but could be used to view and create media. Is this not the essence of a large portion of multimedia art?

In the end, the efforts of ARPA and Xerox PARC probably did not DIRECTLY lead to multimedia art. While many of their thoughts and intentions mirror those of current multimedia artists, their intent was not artistic. However, ARPA and PARC were vital stepping stones towards future multimedia, interactive and decentralized art.