Documentary Chronicles the History of E.A.T., Pioneering Art-Tech Collaboration

A documentary by director Tabitha Denholm traces the history of Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), an organization founded in 1967 to foster collaboration between artists and engineers. The initiative emerged from the partnership of artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman with Bell Laboratories engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer. The catalyst was the legendary Nine Evenings: Theatre and Engineering event in New York in October 1966, where artists and engineers created technologically advanced performances, including John Cage's Variations VII. Klüver had previously assisted Jean Tinguely with his self-destructing machine Homage to New York and worked with Andy Warhol. The documentary, available online in full, combines interviews and archival footage to recount the story of this avant-garde group that involved thousands of people worldwide.