hardware limitations

[abroeck@v2.nl (Andreas Broeckmann)]

Here's a piece of info that shows that there are problems with the hardware
for media art in many places:


Date: 7.26.96
From: Hari Kunzru (hari@wired.co.uk)
Subject: Re: The weather

The most significant development I can think of is something which hasn't
happened. The Croydon Clocktower gallery (located in suburban London, but
trying to make a name for themselves with some high profile exhibitions)
were going to mount a global retrospective of computer art this Autumn.
This was supposedly going to be the first event of its kind in the UK since
1969  - I don't know if that's true - maybe someone else on the list knows.

It was going to include high-profile work by Sommerer and Mignonneau and
other stuff which required a high-end SGI kit to run. They were unable to
get the machines, as SGI's operation in the UK isn't developed enough to
allow them to lend a kit out to art projects. The result is that, we in the
UK, won't get to see work of this kind, (or presumably  highres VR work
like 'Osmose') until the computer companies have enough promotional money
to support projects of this kind.

I phoned SGI and it's important to stress that this isn't their *fault*.
It's not like they are refusing to support art. But they don't have the
budget to do it and apparently there simply aren't enough machines in the
UK.

The curator for Croydon Clocktower estimates that it will take until
1999-2000 before an infrastructure exists to let British people see this
kind of work. Another factor is the relationship between business and the
arts, which is different from the US where at events like Siggraph, these
high-end computers are coming out of the woodwork....  Shame.

One idea we had was that the 'millennium fund' or the national lottery
could direct money towards this. Weather overcast.

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