Open Circuits: Art at the Beginning of the Electronic Age: Project Proposal
1972
Description
Open Circuits: Art at the Beginning of the Electronic Age: Project Proposal (1972)
This document is the original 12-page proposal for the Open Circuits project, written in 1972, two years before the conference was realized at The Museum of Modern Art. Organizers Fred Barzyk, Gerald O'Grady and Douglas Davis present the project as the first to ?bring together the international TV/Art movement? and the first ?thoroughly electronic exhibition ever hosted by a major museum.? They stress the importance of Open Circuits being hosted by a major museum, such as MoMA, and point out that the exhibition could later travel to other institutions around the world. The project proposal, which includes diagrams and illustrations, includes the following components: an exhibition at MoMA, a televised version of the exhibition to be broadcast over the public access channels in Manhattan, an international conference held at MoMA and a catalogue in two versions - one printed and one on cassette. The organizers conclude the proposal by naming a range of artists, critics, writers, academics and broadcasters that they would like to involve in the conference. The list demonstrates the organizers' international aspirations and broad scope, and includes such varied individuals as William Paley, Marshall McLuhan, Buckminster Fuller, Ingmar Bergman, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Paul McCarthy and John Cage.
