From Publishers Weekly
"What we need is a computer that isn't labor-saving but that increases the work for us to do, that... turns us... not `on' but into artists," writes John Cage in his essay in Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, edited by Randall Packer and Ken Jordan, with a foreword (and an excerpt) by William Gibson. Surveying various artistic disciplines, the editors uncover the intersections of the avant-garde and strict computer science with inclusions like Tim Berners-Lee's 1980s prospectus for the World Wide Web, titled "Information Management: A Proposal," and ignored by his colleagues until he made the software, and his fortune, independently. Contributors include Bauhaus luminary L szl¢ Moholy-Nagy, Cage prot‚g‚ and performance artist Nam June Paik, and artist Lynn Hershman. Photos and illus. (Norton, $26.95 416p ISBN 0-393-04979-5; Apr.)Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Readers interested in the history of multimedia should be enthralled by this collection of hard-to-find essays. "Outline of the Artwork of the Future," for instance, was first published in 1849, and its author was the great German composer Richard Wagner, who envisioned a new kind of stage drama that united music, visual effects, poetry, and dance. Skip forward seven decades, and here's 1924's "Theater, Circus, Variety," by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, one of the foremost practitioners of the Bauhaus school of art. His elaboration of Wagner's ideas incorporated the revolutionary idea of removing the so-called fourth wall and involving the audience in the play. Similarly, these essays trace the evolution of electronic media, film, and books (William Burroughs' 1964 piece, "The Future of the Novel," is itself worth the price of admission). A remarkable blending of past and present, these essays remind us that today's wondrous inventions didn't just spring into existence out of nothingness. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


From Book News, Inc.
An anthology of 32 reprinted short pieces demonstrate collaborations between art and science, mostly since World War II, but also back into the 19th century. Many are manifestos by artists in a wide range of media. The arrangement is not chronological, but by the thematic integration, interactivity, hypermedia, immersion, and narrativity.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


Douglas Rushkoff, author of Coercion : Why We Listen to What 'They' Say
This book may be the Primary Source for years to come.


Sara Diamond, artistic director, media and visual arts, The Banff Centre
[O]f great value to novices to the field and to serious theorists and educators....testimony to the human imagination.


Jon Katz, SlashDot
The best guide yet on a subject of central importance to anyone interested in the future of media.... historically significant.


Leonardo, Annick Bureaud
Not 'just another reader' but a key source book in the field of art, science and technology history... excellent in all respects.


Book Description
The first book to address the true history of computer-based multimedia. Web sites, CD-ROMs, video games, interactive television, virtual reality, touch-screen kiosks, 3D architecture design programs . . . these and other forms of computer-based multimedia will be as important to the twenty-first century as film and television were to the twentieth. But what is multimedia, where did it come from, and how does it work? Multimedia presents the fascinating dialogue between the arts and sciences over the last half-century that made today's multimedia possible. Scientists like Vannevar Bush, Douglas Englebart, Norbert Wiener; artists like John Cage, Nam June Paik, and William Gibson--their groundbreaking visions are brought together here for the first time, given historical context, and embedded in a clear explanation of the core concepts behind multimedia. Multimedia will be required reading for anyone who has built a Web site, studied computer graphics, or wondered at the rapid birth and evolution of the new media now changing every aspect of our lives. Introduction by William Gibson.


Book Info
A collection of essays which give a history of the development of multimedia. Traces a series of collaborations between the arts and sciences to the very creation of the links, faces, and interactivity that is commonplace in today's society. Includes a 1916 Futurist manifesto on cinema, and 1945 essay describing today's hyperlinks. DLC: Multimedia systems.


About the Author
Randall Packer is a leading authority on the history of multimedia and serves on the faculty of the Department of Digital Arts at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore. He currently resides in Washington, DC. Ken Jordan has pioneered innovative Web sites such as SonicNet, Word, and Media Channel, where he is now site director.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The first book to address the true history of computer-based multimedia. Web sites, CD-ROMs, video games, interactive television, virtual reality, touch-screen kiosks, 3D architecture design programs . . . these and other forms of computer-based multimedia will be as important to the twenty-first century as film and television were to the twentieth. But what is multimedia, where did it come from, and how does it work? Multimedia presents the fascinating dialogue between the arts and sciences over the last half-century that made today's multimedia possible. Scientists like Vannevar Bush, Douglas Englebart, Norbert Wiener; artists like John Cage, Nam June Paik, and William Gibson--their groundbreaking visions are brought together here for the first time, given historical context, and embedded in a clear explanation of the core concepts behind multimedia. Multimedia will be required reading for anyone who has built a Web site, studied computer graphics, or wondered at the rapid birth and evolution of the new media now changing every aspect of our lives. Introduction by William Gibson.

FROM THE CRITICS

Douglas Rushkoff

This book may be the Primary Source for years to come. —author of Coercion : Why We Listen to What 'They' Say

Sara Diamond

[O]f great value to novices to the field and to serious theorists and educators....testimony to the human imagination.

Jon Katz

The best guide yet on a subject of central importance to anyone interested in the future of media.... historically significant. —SlashDot

Wired

An evocative whirlwind tour through 100 years of work [of] artists and scientists [in] the field of computer-human interaction... Excellent.

Boston Globe

[A]n important book....For anyone who wants to know where multimedia technology is going,or where it has been. Read all 9 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

This book may be the Primary Source for years to come.  — (Douglas Rushkoff, author of Coercion : Why We Listen to What 'They' Say)