In 1976, NASA asked the general public to submit proposals for possible experiments to be carried out via satellite. Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz both had an interest in telecommunications infrastructure. So they began to develop a way to interact across distance through satellite transmission with the Satellite Arts Project. Also known as “A Space With No Geographical Boundaries”, this project used telecollaborative danceand musicto connect over a long distance. Several performing artists, who were separated by oceans and geography, could stand and perform together in the same live image. After extensive storyboarding and planning, Galloway and Rabinowitz decided to create composite images from each location so that the remote participants could all join together onscreen. This was referred to as “The Image as Place”. Also, in order to combat possible time delays due to the long distance, the artists came up with timing exercises and played around with the delay to produce sonic and visual effects instead. This is where you can see the blurry effect of these photos.
I thought this project was so well done. The video shows how they started from a split screen to combining them eventually to show a full image, which I thought was amazing considering the time period this was in. The images are somewhat blurry, but I think it is much more artistic in this way. There are certain moments where it focuses, and I appreciated the contrast. Galloway and Rabinowitz really pushed the limitations of technologies and found new ways to create art through telecommunication. It is fascinating that people from different locations can create art together like this.
Galloway and Rabinowitz planning storyboards
