Frank Popper (17 April 1918 – 12 July 2020) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

-born French-British

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

and Professor Emeritus of

Aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

and the Science of Art at the

University of Paris VIII Paris 8 University (), or usually the University of Vincennes in Saint-Denis or Paris 8, is a public university in the Paris Metropolitan Area, Greater Paris, France. Once part of the historic University of Paris, it is now an autonomous public ...

. He was decorated with the medal of the Légion d'honneur by the French Government. He is author of the books ''Origins and Development of Kinetic Art'', ''Art, Action, and Participation'', ''Art of the Electronic Age'' and ''From Technological to Virtual Art''. Popper documented the historical record of the relationship between technology and participatory forms of art, especially between the late 1960s and the early 1990s.

Kinetic Art and Op Art

In his books ''Origins and Development of Kinetic Art'' and ''Art, Action and Participation'', Popper showed how

Kinetic Art Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...

played an important part in pioneering the unambiguous use of optical movement and in fashioning links between science, technology, art and the environment. Popper was a champion of the humanizing effects of such an interdisciplinary synthesis. Key to his initial thinking and activities as an aesthetician, cultural theorist,

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

, teacher and

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

was his encounter in the early 1950s with the kinetic artist (and author of the book ''Constructivism'')

George Rickey George Warren Rickey (June 6, 1907 – July 17, 2002) was an American kinetic sculptor known for geometric abstractions, often large-scale, engineered to move in response to air currents. Early life and education Rickey was born on June 6, ...

. He subsequently encountered the artists Nicolas Schoffer and Frank Malina, whose works were based on first or second-hand scientific knowledge. Also

Op Art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create optical illusions. It began in the early 20th century, and was especially popular from the 1960s on, the term "Op ...

in the early 1960s had a powerful effect on him. Indeed,

proved to be a strong predecessor to what he was calling Virtual Art in that Op Art called attention to the spectator's individual, constructive, and changing perceptions - and thus called upon the spectator to transfer the creative act increasingly upon him or herself. Op beckons forth a consideration of the enlargement of the audience's participatory role; both in regard to the

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

of meaning and actual physical changes to the work of art. Popper also had many personal encounters in Paris with Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visual,

Carlos Cruz-Diez Carlos Cruz-Diez (17 August 1923 – 27 July 2019) was a Venezuelan artist said by some scholars to have been "one of the greatest artistic innovators of the 20th century." Career In 2020, the Pérez Art Museum Miami acquired ''Chromosatura ...

Yaacov Agam Yaacov Agam (; born 11 May 1928) is an Israeli sculptor and experimental artist widely known for his contributions to optical and kinetic art. Early life, family and education Yaacov Gibstein (later Agam) was born in Mandate Palestine. His fat ...

, Jesus-Rafael Soto and

Victor Vasarely Victor Vasarely (; born Győző Vásárhelyi, ; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement. His work titled ''Zebra'', created in 1937, i ...

, which proved to have had a substantial impact on his view of art and

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

Virtual art

Following this inclination Popper took interest in the works of Piotr Kowalski,

Roy Ascott Roy Ascott FRSA (born 26 October 1934) is a British artist, who works with cybernetics and telematics on an art he calls technoetics by focusing on the impact of digital and telecommunications networks on consciousness. Since the 1960s, Ascott ...

and many others working with the early concept of networking. These artists confirmed his interest in spectator participation, which brought him to the late 1980s and the 1990s when

immersive virtual reality In virtual reality (VR), immersion is the perception of being physically present in a non-physical world. The perception is created by surrounding the user of the VR system in images, sound or other stimuli that provide an engrossing total enviro ...

and

digital art Digital art, or the digital arts, is artistic work that uses Digital electronics, digital technology as part of the creative or presentational process. It can also refer to computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960 ...

began to become established. Popper began to investigate a range of works emerging in this era, including those of Shawn Brixey, Ebon Fisher, and

Joseph Nechvatal Joseph Nechvatal (born January 15, 1951) is an American post-conceptual digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom computer viruses. Life and work Joseph Nechva ...

. To explain and illustrate the emergence of a techno-aesthetic Popper stressed the panoramic and multi-generational reach of virtual art. As regards to virtual art, openness is stressed both from the point of view of the artists and their creativity and from that of the follow-up users in their reciprocating thoughts and actions. This commitment to the teeming openness found in virtual art can be traced to the theories of

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...

and other aestheticians. During his late career Eco expressed a consideration of the computer as a spiritual tool.

, ''Frank Popper and Virtualised Art'', Tema Celeste Magazine: Winter 2004 issue #101, pp. 48–53 Popper used the term,

virtual art Virtual art is a term for the virtualization of art, made with the technical media developed at the end of the 1980s (or a bit before, in some cases). These include human-machine interfaces such as visualization casks, stereoscopic spectacles and ...

, in reference to all the art made with the technical media developed at the end of the 1980s (or a bit before, in some cases). These include human-machine interfaces such as visualization casks,

stereoscopic Stereoscopy, also called stereoscopics or stereo imaging, is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

spectacles and screens, generators of three-dimensional sound, data gloves, data clothes, position sensors, tactile and power feed-back systems, etc. All these technologies allowed immersion into the image and interaction with it. The impression of reality felt under these conditions was not only provided by vision and hearing, but also by the other bodily senses. This multiple sensing was so intensely experienced at times, that Popper could speak of it as an

(VR). In his 2006 book ''From Technological to Virtual Art'', Popper traced the development of immersive, interactive new media art from its historical antecedents through

computer art Computer art is art in which computers play a role in the production or display of the artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation, video, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, video game, website, algorithm, performance or gallery installation. Many traditio ...

cybernetic art Cybernetic art is contemporary art that builds upon the legacy of cybernetics, where feedback involved in the work takes precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. The relationship between cybernetics and art can be summarised ...

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

and

net art upright=1.3, "Simple Net Art Diagram", a 1997 work by Michael Sarff and Tim Whidden Internet art (also known as net art or web art) is a form of new media art distributed via the Internet. This form of art circumvents the traditional dominance o ...

. Popper showed that contemporary virtual art is a further refinement of the

technological Technology is the application of conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible tools such as ute ...

art of the late twentieth century - and also a departure from it. What is new about this

new media art New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of new media, electronic media technologies. It comprises virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robo ...

, he argued, is its humanization of technology, its emphasis on

interactivity Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but ...

, its

philosophical Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

investigation of the real and the virtual, and its multisensory nature. He argued further that what distinguishes the artists who practice virtual art from traditional artists is their combined commitment to

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

and

. Their "extra-artistic" goals - linked to their

aesthetic Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...

intentions - concern not only

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

but also basic human needs and drives.

Definition

Defining virtual art broadly as art that allows us, through an interface with

, to immerse ourselves in

and interact with it, Popper identified an aesthetic-technological logic of creation that allows artistic expression through integration with technology. After describing artistic forerunners of virtual art from 1918 to 1983 - including art that used light, movement, and

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

- Popper looked at contemporary

forms and artists. He surveyed works that are digital based but materialized, multimedia offline works, interactive digital installations, and multimedia online works (

) by many artists.''Origins of Virtualism: An Interview with Frank Popper conducted by

", CAA Art Journal, Spring 2004, pp. 62-77 Virtual art, he argued, offers a new model for thinking about humanist values in a technological age. Virtual art, as Popper saw it, is more than just an injection of the usual aesthetic material into a new

medium Medium may refer to: Aircraft *Medium bomber, a class of warplane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Medium'' (1921 film), a German silent film * ''The Medium'' (1951 film), a film vers ...

, but a deep investigation into the

ontological Ontology is the philosophical study of being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of reality and every ...

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and

ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

significance of such technologies. The aesthetic-technological relationship produces an unprecedented artform. Sharing Popper's focus on art and technology are Jack Burnham (''Beyond Modern Sculpture'' 1968) and

Gene Youngblood Gene Youngblood (May 30, 1942 – April 6, 2021) was an American theorist of media arts and politics, and a respected scholar in the history and theory of alternative cinemas. His best-known book, '' Expanded Cinema'', was the first to consider ...

('' Expanded Cinema'' 1970). They show how art has become, in Popper's terms, virtualized.

Bibliography

* Origins and Development of Kinetic Art, New York Graphic Society/Studio Vista, 1968 * Kinetics, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1970 * Art—Action and Participation, New York University Press, 1975 * Die kinetische Kunst: Licht und Bewegung, Umweltkunst und Aktion, DuMont Schauberg, 1975 * Le déclin de l'objet, Le Chêne, 1975 * Art, action et participation: L'artiste et la creativité aujourd'hui, Klincksieck, 1980 * Arte, Acción Y Participación: El Artista Y La Creatividad De Hoy, Akal Ediciones, 1989 * Agam, Harry N. Abrams, 1990 * Art of the Electronic Age, Thames & Hudson, 1997 * Reflexions sur l'exil, l'art et l'Europe: Entretiens avec Aline Dallier, Klincksieck, 1998 * From Technological to Virtual Art, Leonardo Books, MIT Press, 2006 * Écrire sur l'art : De l'art optique a l'art virtuel, L'Harmattan, 2007 * Yvaral (with Britta Vetter & Emma Healey), Robert Sandelson Ltd., 2007

Footnotes

References

, ''Behaviourist Art and the Cybernetic Vision'', in Cybernetica, Vol. IX, No. 4, 1966; Vol. X, No. 1, 1967: 29. * ''Naissance de l'art cinétique'', Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1967 * ''Origins and Development of Kinetic Art'', Studio Vista and New York Graphic Society, 1968 * ''L'Arte cinetica'', Einaudi, Turin, 1970 * ''Die Kinetische Kunst-Licht und Bewegung, Umweltkunst und Aktion'', Dumont Schauberg, 1975 * ''Le déclin de l'objet'', Le Chêne, 1975 * ''Art, Action and Participation'', Studio Vista and New York University Press, 1975 * ''

, monographie'', Abrams, New York, 1976 * ''Art, action et participation : l'artiste et la créativité aujourd'hui'', Klincksieck, 1980 * ''Kunst zwischen Natur und Technologie. Ein Gespräch mit Frank Popper'', Jürgen Claus, Treffpunkt Kunst. Keil Verlag Bonn, 1982, pp. 19–22 * ''Künstler und sozialer Wandel, Gespräch mit Frank Popper'', Jürgen Claus, ChippppKunst, Ullstein Materialien, Frankfurt am Main/Berlin, Bd. 35232, 1985, pp. 116–120 * ''Réflexions sur l'exil, l'art et l'Europe : Entretiens avec Aline Dallier'', Klincksieck, 1998 * ''Origins of Virtualism: An Interview with Frank Popper conducted by

'', CAA Art Journal, Spring 2004, pp. 62–77 * Joseph Nechvatal, ''Frank Popper and Virtualised Art'', Tema Celeste Magazine: Winter 2004 issue #101, pp. 48–53 * Charlie Gere, ''Art, Time and Technology: Histories of the Disappearing Body'', Berg, 2005, p. 146 *

Margaret Boden Margaret Ann Boden (born 26 November 1936) is a British academic who is a Research Professor of Cognitive Science in the Department of Informatics at the University of Sussex, where her work embraces the fields of artificial intelligence, psyc ...

, Mind As Machine,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2006, p. 1089 * Lieser, Wolf. ''Digital Art''. Langenscheidt: h.f. ullmann, 2009, p. 283 * Kristine Stiles & Peter Selz, ''Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings'' (Second Edition, Revised and Expanded by Kristine Stiles) University of California Press 2012, p. 450 * Jürgen Claus, "Frank Popper", in: "Liebe die Kunst. Eine Autobiografie in einundzwanzig Begegnungen", Kerber/ZKM, 2013, pp. 178–186, *

Christiane Paul Christiane Paul (; born 8 March 1974) is a German film, television and stage actress. Career Paul first worked as a model for magazines such as '' Bravo''. She was 17 when she obtained her first leading role in the film '. Prior to her acting c ...

, ''Digital Art'', Thames & Hudson Ltd., 2015, p. 219

External links

* *
Centre d'Art Contemporain Frank Popper, Marcigny, France

From Technological to Virtual Art book by Frank Popper

by

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popper, Frank 1918 births 2020 deaths French men centenarians French art historians Cultural historians French art critics Postmodern theory Postmodernists French art curators French male writers People from Prague Academic staff of Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis Czechoslovak emigrants to France es:Frank Popper#top