Telecommunication Art
My comments to follow are in regard to a required class reading of the following:
Ed Shanken, “Tele-Agency: Telematics, Telerobotics, and the Art of Meaning” at http://neme.org/main/620/tele-agency or look for title in http://artexetra.com/
This past set of readings was all about telecommunication art. I find the fact that artists have found ways to marry the Internet with an installation in a gallery so viewers can experience art from afar very interesting.
What really piqued my interest was Ken Goldberg’s Telegarden (1995-present). The fact that this installation can be manipulated from thousands of miles away is mind-boggling. People who visit the project’s website help the tiny ecosystem survive just by moving an industrial robot arm to water it and plant new seeds. It’s amazing that this ecosystem is thriving on Internet activity alone.
Nina Sobell and Emily Hartzell’s VirtuAlice (1995) is amazing. People don’t even need to visit the gallery with their invention. This wireless mobile wheelchair-like vehicle is mounted with a telerobotic camera and controlled by visitors to the gallery’s website on the Internet. They drive around the gallery with complete freedom to examine the entire space! This is pretty awesome stuff!
I started looking for examples to post here about telerobotics such as the works I have listed above. You’d be astounded by how many videos and pictures there are out there. This is apparently a widely experimented with concept. Here’s a short video someone posted when they were testing the connectivity of their robotic system to its corresponding Internet controls:
Telecommunication art is bringing down the obstructions that prevent the interaction of far-off artists (and art appreciators) that normally would never have met. Just think of all the possibilities such technology can be used for. It’s truly an innovative concept! 
