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Robert Whitman

1935-01-01 – 2024-01-19

Portrait of Robert Whitman
On Experiments in Art and Technology In his lecture Robert Whitman discusses the way that he has used space as part of the vocabulary of his installation and performance pieces. In 1966 Whitman was one of the New York artists who worked with Billy Klüver and more than 30 engineers and scientists from Bell Telephone Laboratories to create works for the now legendary 9 Evenings. Whitman was also one of the co-founders of Experiments in Art and Technology along with Billy Klüver, Fred Waldhauer and Robert Rauschenberg. And he was one of the core artists for the Pepsi Pavilion at Expo ’70, in Osaka, a project administered by E.A.T. One of the main features of the interior of the Pavilion was the central performance space in a 90 feet diameter 120 degree spherical mirror made of aluminized reflective PET film, which produced real images of the visitors hanging upside down in space. Robert Whitman (US) is best known for the more than forty seminal theatre pieces he produced during the early 1960s that combined audio, actors, film, slides and evocative props in environments of his own making. Since the late 1960s he has collaborated with engineers, scientists and artists on installations and works that incorporate new technology: laser sculptures, optical reflector systems, and more recently, cell phones.Credit: Rosa Menkman from amsterdam, Netherlands

Life & Legacy

Robert Whitman (May 23, 1935 – January 19, 2024) was an American artist best known for his seminal theater pieces of the early 1960s combining visual and sound images, actors, film, slides, and evocative props in environments of his own making. From the late 1960s on he worked with new technologies, and his latest work incorporated cellphones.

Occupation & Career

artist, illustrator, performance artist, film director

Education

Columbia University; Rutgers University

Accomplishments, Inventions & Publications

Guggenheim Fellowship

Legacy Highlights

Honors & Awards

Guggenheim Fellowship

Education & Institutions

Columbia University · Rutgers University

Verified Legacy Record

Sources & Provenance

  1. Wikidata population candidate Q7351025 — wikidata View source

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