12 DECEMBER 2006 - PRESS RELEASE

Contact for press/preview discs/screening bookings:
Patrick Kwiatkowski +1-713-412-5120, [log in to unmask]
www.9evenings.org


Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.)
ARTPIX
Microcinema International

announce

9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering - a 10 DVD set of films on a legendary
series of theater, dance, music and performances at the New York 69th
Regiment Armory in 1966 by 10 New York artists: Robert Rauschenberg,  
John
Cage, David Tudor, Yvonne Rainer, Deborah Hay, Robert Whitman, Steve  
Paxton,
Alex Hay, Lucinda Childs and Öyvind Fahlström.
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In 1966 10 New York artists worked with 30 engineers and scientists  
from the
world renowned Bell Telephone Laboratories to create groundbreaking
performances that incorporated new technology. Video projection,  
wireless
sound transmission, and Doppler sonar - technologies that are  
commonplace
today - had never been seen in the art of the 60's. The 9 Evenings DVD
Series is an important documentation of the collaborations between the
artists and engineers that produced innovative works using these  
emerging
technologies. These performances still resonate today, as forerunners  
of the
close and rapidly-evolving relationship between artists and technology.

The DVDs – one on each artist’s performance -- will be released  
sequentially
over the next two years with the initial publication of the series:  
Robert
Rauschenberg - Open Score, available Feb 27, 2007, followed by the  
second in
the series: John Cage - Variations VII, available June 26, 2007. Each  
DVD
will be PAL and NTSC system compatible.

9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering is recognized as a major artistic  
event of
the 1960s. The performances represented the culmination of a period of
extraordinary creative energy in art, dance and music in the late  
1950s and
early 1960s, and they also pointed to the future, as artists began to  
use
new technology in their work.

9 Evenings was organized by Robert Rauschenberg and Billy Klüver, then a
research scientist at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey.  
It was
held at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York City from October 13-23,  
1966.
As Billy Klüver has written: "9 Evenings was unique in the incredible
richness and imagination of the performances. The Armory space  
allowed the
artists to work on an unprecedented scale, and their involvement with
technology and collaborations with the engineers added a dimension of
unfamiliarity and challenge. They responded with major works."

9 Evenings was the first large-scale collaboration between artists and
engineers and scientists. The two groups worked together for 10  
months to
develop technical equipment and systems that were used as an integral  
part
of the artists’ performances. Their collaboration produced many  
"firsts" in
the use of new technology for the theater, both with specially-designed
systems and equipment and with innovative use of existing equipment.
Closed-circuit television and television projection was used on stage  
for
the first time; a fiber-optics camera picked up objects in a performer's
pocket; an infrared television camera captured action in total  
darkness; a
Doppler sonar device translated movement into sound; and portable  
wireless
FM transmitters and amplifiers transmitted speech and body sounds to  
Armory
loudspeakers.

Using archival film footage and original sound recordings, the 9  
Evenings
films reconstruct each artist's performance as fully as possible;  
they also
contain new interviews with artists, engineers and performers to  
illuminate
the artistic, technical and historical aspects of the works.

Performances are by nature ephemeral events; this DVD series assures  
that
the 9 Evenings will not be lost but will be available to new  
generations of
dance and theater students as well as art scholars, artists and the  
general
public who will have a concrete representation of what 9 Evenings looked
like and how it came to play such an important role in American 20th  
century
art.

The films on 9 Evenings are produced for E.A.T. by Julie Martin and  
directed
by Barbro Schultz Lundestam. They are funded in part by generous  
gifts from
Robert Rauschenberg and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation as well as  
with
support from the Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art Science and  
Technology.

The 10 disc DVD series, 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering, is co- 
produced by
E.A.T. and ARTPIX and will be distributed worldwide by Microcinema
International.


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E.A.T. is a service organization that promotes the collaboration between
artists and engineers to provide artists with access to new  
technology and
to facilitate their participation in projects dealing with areas of  
social
concern.

ARTPIX is a non profit organization that produces DVDs about the arts
including: Robert Whitman: Performances from the 60s; Trisha Brown:  
Early
Works 1966-1979; William Wegman: Video Works 1970-1999.(www.artpix.org)

Visit www.9evenings.org for more information.
Microcinema International - The Art of the Moving Image

Microcinema is a leading international distributor and licensor of the
moving image arts.

Microcinema International is exclusive distributor worldwide for the  
entire
series of 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering (www.microcinema.com). The
series will be available online at www.microcinemadvd.com or for  
wholesale,
institutional or educational purchasing. For info and for
theatrical/institutional screening/display information please  
contact: Joel
Bachar, Microcinema International, 1636 Bush St., St. 2, San  
Francisco CA
94109, +1-415.447.9750 / FAX +1-509.351.1530 / [log in to unmask]



Microcinema International

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email: [log in to unmask]
phone: 415-447-9750
web: http://www.microcinema.com