Binary Benefactor? : Why PacTel Should Sponsor Digital Art

Great artistic movements need more than genius; they also require great patrons. The Italian Renaissance had the Church and the d’Medicis. The French Impressionists had art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. But in this emerging era of new media technologies, what bold patron is uniquely positioned to sponsor the digital Duchamps? The Picassos of parallel processors? The Fellinis of fiber optics?

Does the name Pacific Telesis ring a bell?

Just like canvas and clay, telecommunications networks can and should be viewed as artistic media. PacTel already gives about $1 million a year to support traditional arts and exhibits. But instead of subsidizing the art of the past, why not sponsor the art of the future? Don’t just commission works of art; commission networks of art. PacTel and the other regional Bell Operating Companies could easily--and legally--become multimedia d’Medicis and encourage a new generation of digitally interactive art.

“I can see what you sell (this idea) on” says Robert E. LaBlanc, a former vice chairman of Continental Telecom who consults with the regional Bell Operating Companies. “The use of new technology in creative ways--even in an altruistic way. . . . The more they encourage people to use telecommunications in imaginative ways, the better off they’ll be. Of course, the shareholders would have to be convinced.”

“It’s a provocative idea,” asserts Robert Stein, managing director of the Voyager Co. in Santa Monica, one of the most innovative multimedia production houses in California. “The reason why the Bells would want to do this would be to jump-start some conceptual thinking on what this media is good for. By definition, artists are ahead of the curve. So this would be good business. Whether or not it’s good art is irrelevant to them.”

Technically, there would be little problem for a local phone company to assign phone numbers, network capacity and processing power for such an “ArtNet.” Perhaps a company will commission an ArtNet that lets personal computer users collaborate to create a giant community novel. How about a “virtual quilt” that lets people scan in favorite photographs and images to be digitally woven together as post-industrial craft?

Similarly, what kind of a network might an environmental artist such as Christo devise? Or a video artist such as Bill Viola? Would the interaction be Nintendo-like? Would it be like watching cable TV? Strolling through an art/video gallery? Or would there be new styles and genres of interaction that the network of art would uniquely create? What new artists might a well-crafted commission discover?

These are exactly the kinds of questions the Bell companies should be asking themselves anyway. With just a little imagination--and even less money--the Bell companies have a unique opportunity to stimulate both artistic and technological innovation. As public utilities, they have an obligation to reasonably pursue that opportunity.

“Obviously, we want to do anything we can to make people aware of what the network can do,” says Michael Renzler, a PacTel spokesman. “The question is, how can you do that through a piece of artwork. One of the problems is getting your arms around it.”

On the other hand, Renzler acknowledges, “there’s a lot of interesting work going on right now in areas like multimedia. It would be a challenge to us. And it’s certainly a departure from the types of art we have been funding.”

Which is precisely why the Bell companies should do it. Indeed, some people might attack such an initiative by the phone companies on the grounds that it smells more like research and development than philanthropic support of the arts.

“I would be concerned that they would use this as a stepping stone to move into commercial markets,” said former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley, a lawyer who has fought the Bells’ effort to offer information services. “There are other practical issues like cross-subsidies between the regulated and unregulated sides of the companies.”

Nevertheless, why wouldn’t public utility regulators want to encourage philanthropy and innovation? To be sure, you can run into the Robert Mapplethorpe problem of “tasteless” and “inappropriate” network art, but should that risk outweigh the public benefits?

“There’s really nothing novel in this suggestion,” argues Librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin, author of “The Creators,” a best-seller on the history of the arts. “Throughout history the patron has played a crucial role in encouraging . . . the role of the artist. . . . We need to find ways to encourage people to experiment . . . with new technologies.”