December 10, 1989

PEOPLE WHO fear technology or refuse to understand it don’t see how vulnerable we are to our own inventions. Technologists, likewise, don’t understand how vulnerable we become if we exorcise the pursuit of art from its position of importance in society.

In today’s “money equals success” world, an artist is either good enough to make a living off his or her work (and labeled “commercial”), or looked upon as a freeloader who’s incapable of holding down a “real” job. Except for the new breed of computer-based graphic designers, most artists aren’t likely to conceive of the words “art” and “technology” in the same sentence, or even the same paragraph.

Similarly the artistic community, most of whom are phobic about technology, would just as soon all the computer chips in the world melt back into the sand from whence they came. The technically savvy are met with fear and awe, since the majority of artist-types are certain such knowledge is beyond the realm of possibility or necessity for them.

These ill-conceived notions keep two of society’s most important creative functions from talking to each other, to the disservice of us all — and especially to students who are often told they must choose between the two.

An old friend and teacher has taken steps to bridge this gap. Grant Venerable, a chemistry Ph.D. who’s now teaching in the School of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, is a prolific painter, writer and musician who’s spent a career forging a kind of molecular bond between art and technology.

His latest effort is a two-day summit for arts educators and technologists, which happens Thursday and Friday, Jan. 18-19, at San Jose State University. Called “Arts/Technology Summit Dialogue ‘90,” the brainstorming session will be a chance for artists and art educators to become more knowledgeable about technology, and for technologists to see how art and art-trained people can help them realign their values and create better-conceived technology for arts education.
Its primary purpose, says Venerable, is to get the two sides talking.

“Technologists can get a dialogue going with people they rarely get a chance to talk to, a potential market,” says Venerable. “And artists and educators will benefit from mental stimulation they’d never get otherwise.”

Venerable says the conference has room for 150 “select visionaries,” and he’s targeted a group ranging from school superintendents to electronics executives. “I want to get decision-makers there, to start explaining technology and how it can benefit the classroom,” he says. “I want to help technology and business people create better technology for arts education. It’s a completely cross-fertilized group.”

Considering that this may still be a somewhat ethereal topic for many technologists and artists, Venerable should be applauded for a landing a meaty group of speakers.

Steven Arnold, general manager of Lucasfilm Games, one of the companies that built an empire marrying art and technology, is on the roster. So is Richard Bains, education director of the San Francisco Symphony, Mary Fallon of Apple Computer’s education division, and David Grady, a national expert on computers in education who now works for Next, Inc.

August Coppola, dean of the School of Creative Arts at San Francisco State, is on the list, as is Howard Barney, co-founder of Barneyscan Corp. in Berkeley. Barney designed a pivoting cone-stage used in a recent George Coates performance piece.

“Coppola likes to get people to think outside the area where they wear their hats,” says Venerable. “We don’t want them making their same little speeches.”

The conference is co-sponsored by the California Alliance for Arts Education, the State Department of Education and the Office of the Chancellor, California State University. In fact, Venerable says Diane Vines, director of special programs for the Chancellor’s office, was integral in getting the project off the ground.

We have a great need in our specialized society for people who have a vision of the whole, so it’s most fitting that a topic of such vitality should be addressed here in the heart of Technology Central. Silicon Valley is the perfect venue to raise awareness that both technology and the arts are essential to a healthy, democratic society, that both are crucial components to empower the individual — that a scientist’s problem-solving is not inherently more important than a painter’s trying to “solve” an unfinished canvas.

If this Summit/Dialog can build cooperation between the artistic community and high technology, they may spur each other to greater achievements and together find a way to achieve balance in an era of breath-taking change. I hope those who attend Venerable’s conference look forward to the challenge. Call him at (415) 233-7427 for information.