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Committee on Information Technology and Creativity Computer Science and Telecommunications Board Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences William J. Mitchell, Alan S. Inouye, and Marjory S. Blumenthal, Editors THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS Washington, D.C. www.nap.edu THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. Support for this project was provided by the Rockefeller Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor. International Standard Book Number 0-309-08868-2 Library of Congress Control Number 2003103683 Cover design by Jennifer M. Bishop Copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055, (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 in the Washington metropolitan area. Internet, http://www.nap.edu. Copyright 2003 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. www.national-academies.org C O M M I T T E E O N I N F O R M AT I O N T E C H N O L O G Y A N D C R E AT I V I T Y WILLIAM J. MITCHELL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chair STEVEN ABRAMS, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center MICHAEL CENTURY, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute JAMES P. CRUTCHFIELD, Santa Fe Institute CHRISTOPHER CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, MIT Media Laboratory ROGER DANNENBERG, Carnegie Mellon University TONI DOVE, Independent Artist, New York City N. KATHERINE HAYLES, University of California at Los Angeles J.C. HERZ, Joystick Nation Inc. NATALIE JEREMIJENKO, Yale University JOHN MAEDA, MIT Media Laboratory DAVID SALESIN, University of Washington; Microsoft Research LILLIAN F. SCHWARTZ, Computer Artist-Inventor, Watchung, New Jersey PHOEBE SENGERS, Cornell University BARBARA STAFFORD, University of Chicago Staff ALAN S. INOUYE, Study Director and Senior Program Officer MARJORY S. BLUMENTHAL, Director, Computer Science and Telecommunications Board DAVID PADGHAM, Research Associate MARGARET MARSH HUYNH, Senior Project Assistant LAURA OST, Consultant DAVID WALCZYK, Consultant SUSAN MAURIZI, Senior Editor JENNIFER M. BISHOP, Senior Project Assistant v COMPUTER SCIENCE AND T E L E C O M M U N I C AT I O N S B O A R D DAVID D. CLARK, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chair ERIC BENHAMOU, 3Com Corporation DAVID BORTH, Motorola Labs JOHN M. CIOFFI, Stanford University ELAINE COHEN, University of Utah W. BRUCE CROFT, University of Massachusetts at Amherst THOMAS E. DARCIE, AT&T Labs Research JOSEPH FARRELL, University of California at Berkeley JOAN FEIGENBAUM, Yale University WENDY KELLOGG, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center BUTLER W. LAMPSON, Microsoft Corporation DAVID LIDDLE, U.S. Venture Partners TOM M. MITCHELL, Carnegie Mellon University HECTOR GARCIA MOLINA, Stanford University DAVID A. PATTERSON, University of California at Berkeley HENRY (HANK) PERRITT, Chicago-Kent College of Law DANIEL PIKE, Classic Communications Inc. ERIC SCHMIDT, Google Inc. FRED SCHNEIDER, Cornell University BURTON SMITH, Cray Inc. LEE SPROULL, New York University WILLIAM STEAD, Vanderbilt University JEANNETTE M. WING, Carnegie Mellon University MARJORY S. BLUMENTHAL, Director HERBERT S. LIN, Senior Scientist ALAN S. INOUYE, Senior Program Officer JON EISENBERG, Senior Program Officer LYNETTE I. MILLETT, Program Officer CYNTHIA A. PATTERSON, Program Officer STEVEN WOO, Dissemination Officer JANET BRISCOE, Administrative Officer RENEE HAWKINS, Financial Associate DAVID PADGHAM, Research Associate KRISTEN BATCH, Research Associate PHIL HILLIARD, Research Associate MARGARET MARSH HUYNH, Senior Project Assistant DAVID DRAKE, Senior Project Assistant JANICE SABUDA, Senior Project Assistant JENNIFER M. BISHOP, Senior Project Assistant BRANDYE WILLIAMS, Staff Assistant For more information on CSTB, see its Web site at , write to CSTB, National Research Council, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001, call at (202) 334-2605, or e-mail the CSTB at cstb@nas.edu. vi Preface C omputer science has drawn from and contributed to many disciplines and practices since it emerged as a field in the middle of the 20th century. Those interactions, in turn, have contributed to the evolution of information technology: New forms of computing and communications, and new applications, continue to develop from the creative interaction of computer science and other fields. Focused initially on interactions between computer science and other forms of science and engineering, the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) began in the mid-1990s to examine opportunities at the intersection of computing and the humanities and the arts. In 1997, it organized a workshop that illuminated the potential, as well as the practical challenges, of mining those opportunities1 and that led, eventually, to the project described in this report. Ensuing discussions between CSTB staff and people interested in the intersection of computing and the humanities or the arts, notably Joan Shigekawa of the Rockefeller Foundation, a participant in the 1997 workshop, culminated in a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to study information technology and creativity (see Box P.1 for the statement of task). This report should be read with two conditions in mind: First, it is, by design, a record of the project, filled with descriptions, observations, conclusions, and recommendations intended to motivate and sustain interest and activity in the rich intersection of information technology (IT) and the arts and design. Second, in this book form it cannot possibly convey the exciting possibilities at that intersection. Instead, it presents examples and pointers to sites on the World Wide Web and in the physical world where that intersection can be observed and experienced. We urge the reader to treat this report as a 1 See Computing and the Humanities: Summary of a Roundtable Meeting, published in 1998 by the American Council of Learned Societies, one of three collaborators with CSTB in organizing the workshop. vii viii PREFACE BOX P.1 Statement of Task A series of discussions among a cross section of the arts community and experts in computing and communications will be organized. These discussions will crystallize new ways of conceptualizing joint opportunities and new approaches to the arts (and/or IT [information technology]). They will explore what would make the most conducive environment for IT-arts exchange on an ongoing basis, considering physical and virtual options. They will address possible mechanisms to sustain the discussion, such as funding and institutional support. Finally, they will culminate in both a coherent description of potential futures and an agenda for action, action that bridges the different communities as well as action most appropriate for one or another. primer and guidebook and to seek out instances of IT and creative practices—ITCP—directly. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • COMMITTEE COMPOSITION AND PROCESS The study committee convened by CSTB featured an unusually eclectic group of individuals (see Appendix A for biographies of committee members). Characterizing most (or all) of them as experts on particular subjects would only begin to suggest the talents of this group. Collectively, the committee had expertise and experience in the intersections of information technology and music, the visual arts, film, and literature and in art history, architecture, cultural studies, and many of the technologies pertinent to ITCP. The committee did its work through its own deliberations and by soliciting input from a number of other experts (see Appendix B for a list of those who briefed the committee). It met first in August 2000 and five times subsequently in plenary session. Additional information was derived from reviewing the published literature, monitoring selected listservs and Web sites, and obtaining informal input at various conferences and other convenings. During the editorial phase of the study, facts were checked for accuracy with either authoritative published sources or subject experts. The diversity of this committee made it a microcosm of some of the communities it hopes to influence with this report. That diversity posed challenges in the conduct of this project that will be echoed in attempts to learn from it: Conversations among people with different training and professional experience can be confounded by jargon and PREFACE ix prejudices as well as by differing knowledge bases—even when those people share interests. The completion of this report attests to the potential for technologists and artists to find common ground, not only in undertaking creative work, but also in contemplating options for making such work easier to undertake and more widespread. But finding this common ground sometimes proved to be a formidable challenge. The productive interaction among committee members was captured in some of their career developments during the course of this project. Chris Csikszentmihalyi, for example, left Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to join John Maeda at MIT’s Media Lab. Michael Century left McGill University for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Natalie Jeremijenko was hosted by Jim Crutchfield for a month’s professional visit at the Santa Fe Institute. And John Maeda was inspired by the project to build “a new online Bauhaus.” These and other developments attest to the dynamism and creative energy of the people who have been exploring the intersection of IT and creativity. Although the report refers to several companies, products, and services by name, such reference does not constitute an endorsement by the committee or the National Academies. The committee did not evaluate any product or service in sufficient detail to allow such an endorsement. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The committee is particularly grateful to Joan Shigekawa of the Rockefeller Foundation for initiating this study. She approached CSTB with a conviction that the time was right for a conversation among people of different backgrounds about how to enhance and sustain the intersection of information technology and creative practices. We appreciate her guidance and support through the study process, including her participation in two committee meetings, occasional relay of useful information, and continuing demonstration of interest in the process and the eventual results. In addition, we would like to thank those individuals who provided valuable inputs into the committee’s deliberations. Those who briefed the committee at one of our plenary meetings are listed in Appendix B. Others who provided us with important inputs include Bill Alschuler (California Institute of the Arts), Howard Besser (New York University), Shari Garmise (Consultant, Washington, D.C.), Samuel Hope (National Office for Arts Accreditation), Sharon Kangas (Center for Arts and Culture), Anna Karlin (University of Washington), Ruth Kovacs (The Foundation Center), Joan Lippincott (Coalition for Networked Information), and Laurens R. Schwartz (Consultant, New York City). We would also like to acknowledge those organizations that hosted committee meetings: the American Institute of