Paul Louis Ryan (1943–2013) was an American

video artist Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. ...

and communications theorist. His video art encompassed water studies and demonstrations of what Ryan called “a yoga of relationships” or Threeing, culminating in his theoretical development of the Peircean relational circuit and Earthscore notational system.

Biography

Ryan was born in 1943 in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

, and was raised in northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. In 1960, he joined the

Passionists The Passionists, officially named the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, are a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720, with a special emphasis on ...

, a monastic preaching order of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

; in 1962, he earned an A.A. degree from the Passionists Monastic Seminary System. After pursuing an additional three years of independent philosophical and theological studies with the order, Ryan returned to secular life in 1965. He enrolled at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

on a full tuition scholarship, where he studied under H.W. Janson and

Walter Ong Walter Jackson Ong, (November 30, 1912 – August 12, 2003) was an American Jesuit priest, professor of English literature, cultural and religious historian, and philosopher. His major interest was in exploring how the transition from orality ...

before receiving a B.A. in English in 1967.

Work

He partially fulfilled his alternate service requirement as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

by assisting

Marshall McLuhan Herbert Marshall McLuhan (, ; July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media studies, media theory. Raised in Winnipeg, McLuhan studied at the University of Manitoba a ...

as a "McLuhan Fellow" during the media theorist's 1967-1968 term as

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was a German and French polymath from Alsace. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. As a Lutheran minister, ...

Professor of the Humanities at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

. He completed his service requirement at Fordham during the 1968-1969 term, "exploring video as a medium in McLuhan‟s terms" with early

Portapak A Portapak is a battery-powered, self-contained video tape analog recording system. Introduced to the market in 1967, it could be carried and operated by one person. Earlier television cameras were large and heavy, required a specialized vehicle ...

cameras. He considered this combination of "theory and practice" to be equivalent to a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

degree. In 1969, he exhibited in the seminal TV as a Creative Medium show (widely regarded as one of the birth pangs of

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...

) at the Howard Wise Gallery and cofounded the

Raindance Foundation Raindance Foundation (RainDance Corporation) was founded in October 1969 by Frank Gillette, Paul Ryan, Michael Shamberg, Louis Jaffe, and Marco Vassi. Raindance was a self-described "alternate culture think-tank" that embraced video as an alterna ...

with

Frank Gillette Frank Gillette (born in 1941) is an American video and installation artist. Interested in the empirical observation of natural phenomena, his early work integrated the viewer's image with prerecorded information. He has been described as a "pion ...

Michael Shamberg Michael Shamberg (born March 22, 1944) is an American film producer and former Time–Life correspondent. Life and career His credits include '' Erin Brockovich'', ''A Fish Called Wanda'', '' Garden State'', ''Gattaca'', ''Pulp Fiction'' and ...

and Ira Schneider.''Paul Ryan''
in ''Edge'' - The third culture While McLuhan depicted

World War III World War III, also known as the Third World War, is a hypothetical future global conflict subsequent to World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). It is widely predicted that such a war would involve all of the great powers, ...

in 1970 as a "guerrilla information war," in the same year Ryan wrote "Cybernetic Guerrilla Warfare" for Raindance's ''Radical Software'' journal, anticipating the subsequent development of guerrilla television in 1971.Shamberg (1971)Greenwald (2007) ''The Process is in the Streets'', pp.174-6Greenwald (2007) ''The Grassroots Video Pioneers''Ryan (1970) Shortly thereafter, Ryan founded Earthscore, an

intentional community An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed to foster a high degree of group cohesiveness, social cohesion and teamwork. Such communities typically promote shared values or beliefs, or pursue a common vision, wh ...

in New York's

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...

inspired by

Gregory Bateson Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904 – 4 July 1980) was an English anthropology, anthropologist, social sciences, social scientist, linguistics, linguist, visual anthropology, visual anthropologist, semiotics, semiotician, and cybernetics, cybernetici ...

's writings on

cybernetic Cybernetics is the transdisciplinary study of circular causal processes such as feedback and recursion, where the effects of a system's actions (its outputs) return as inputs to that system, influencing subsequent action. It is concerned with ...

feedback and the triadic thought of

Charles Sanders Peirce Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American scientist, mathematician, logician, and philosopher who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism". According to philosopher Paul Weiss (philosopher), Paul ...

; this precipitated the development of the Earthscore semiotic system as initially delineated in the peremptory section of ''Cybernetics of the Sacred'', a collection of essays published in 1974. The resultant "Threeing"—a video demonstrating "a ‘

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

’ of relationships... in which three people take turns playing three different roles; initiator, respondent and mediator"—premiered at

The Kitchen A kitchen is a room used for the preparation of food. Kitchen, or The Kitchen, may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Kitchen'' (1966 film), an American film * ''Kitchen'' (1997 film), a Hong Kong film * ''The Kitchen'' (1961 film ...

in 1976. This led to Ryan's conceptual development of the relational circuit, "an original

topological Topology (from the Greek words , and ) is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, wit ...

figure that synthesizes cybernetics and

semiotics Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter. Semiosis is a ...

" with applications in such disparate fields as

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

and

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of Conflict (process), conflict and Revenge, retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively co ...

. As an artist, Ryan exhibited and performed at The Kitchen, the

Rose Art Museum The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from its permanent co ...

, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

The Cloisters The Cloisters, also known as the Met Cloisters, is a museum in the Washington Heights, Manhattan, Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park, specializes in European medieval art ...

, the

Venice Biennial The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

, and the Dancing Theatre in

New Paltz, New York New Paltz () is an incorporated U.S. town in Ulster County, New York. The population was 14,407 at the 2020 census. The town is located in the southeastern part of the county and is south of Kingston. New Paltz contains a village, also with ...

. He taught at

, the

State University of New York at New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an ...

, the

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. It was founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the United ...

, and

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

, where he was an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mos ...

at the time of his death. On December 18, 1995, Ryan appeared on former New Paltz faculty colleague Harold Channer's talk show ''Conversations with Harold Hudson Channer'', on MNN.''Wednesday's guest''
info about Paul Ryan by

Harold Channer Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts ...

's show website In 2008, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

created the collection ''Paul Ryan papers, 1943-2008''.''Paul Ryan papers, 1943-2008''
/ref> A longtime resident of the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Ryan died on December 17, 2013, at his second home in

Solebury, Pennsylvania Solebury is an unincorporated community in Solebury Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. Solebury is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 263 Pennsylvania Route 263 (PA 263) is a north–south st ...

, following a long illness.

Notable Books

*''The Three Person Solution'', Purdue University Press, 2009 *''Cybernetics of the Sacred'', Doubleday Anchor, 1974

Notes

References

*Greenwald, Dara (2007) ''The Process is in the Streets: Challenging Media America'' in MacPhee, Josh and Reuland, Erik (2007
''Realizing the impossible: art against authority''
*Greenwald, Dara (2007
''The Grassroots Video Pioneers''
in ''

The Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is an American publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics, based in Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, critics, and ...

'', May 2007 *

(1970) ''Culture is our business'' *Ryan, Paul (1970) ''Cybernetic guerrilla warfare'' in ''Radical Software'', Volume 1, Issue 3, 1971 * Shamberg, Michael,

Raindance Corporation Raindance Foundation (RainDance Corporation) was founded in October 1969 by Frank Gillette, Paul Ryan, Michael Shamberg, Louis Jaffe, and Marco Vassi. Raindance was a self-described "alternate culture think-tank" that embraced video as an altern ...

(1971)
Guerrilla television
' Chapter "process notes" *Strangelove, Michael (2005
''The empire of mind: digital piracy and the anti-capitalist movement''

External links

* at ''

Conversations with harold Hudson Channer Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...

'' (video) *(video)
Earthscore
a notational system developed by Paul Ryan {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Paul 1943 births American video artists 2013 deaths