1.1.1 Whether communication is by telephone hook-up or by wireless radio, what you and I transmit is only weightless metaphysical information. Metaphysical, information appreciative, you and I are not the telephones nor the wire or wireless means of the metaphysical information transmitting. (Fuller, 1975, Synergestic Dictionary, 326.05)

1.1. 2 Three qualities are necessary for work on the networks: a need to connect, a willingness to collaborate, and the ability to embrace the fact that the work may change form and be reappropriated in the process. In other words, this work requires letting go of "control" and moving towards a consciousness of collective intelligence. The Internet provides us with a tool to accomplish these goals, but in order to use this tool effectively, the meaning of 'networking' has to extend beyond the physical computer communication infrastructure.

1.1.3 It is important to understand that webbing, connection making, long precedes the Internet. Further, making unusual connections and coming up with ideas that are a result of this mixture of influences is the critical core of this dissertation, not the technology itself. In addition I want to stress at the outset that I take a position that this emerging field draws its roots from the work of conceptualists, performance artists, and those who organised Happenings and strove for extending out of the closed boundaries of the traditional art structures. I do not believe that interactive work on or off line follows the historical genealogy by media, i.e. photography, film, video.

1.1.4 In an effort to better understand the newly emerging field of arts on the networks, it is most valuable to examine personalities who were networkers early on, advancing the building of the triangular bridge between the arts, humanities, and sciences. Buckminster Fuller is a perfect example of such a personality and provides us with an array of interesting people he connected with throughout his lifetime (1895-1983). He collaborated with, taught, lectured to, and was close friends with an impressive number of important personalities, of which I will mention but a few who are most relevant to this thesis.

1.1.5 Buckminster Fuller was a networker extraordinaire; one can only imagine how complex his web would have become if he had had access to the communication technologies available today. He created an intricate synergistic network of extraordinary people and events during his prolific lifetime. His visionary magnetic persona had an inspirational, and in some cases catalytic, effect on many people who themselves became influential historical personalities. Throughout his lifetime Fuller was inspired and influenced by Margaret Fuller's transcendentalism, Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, and Henry Ford's introduction of automation into the workforce. This triangle of spiritualism, science, and mechanisation is ever present in his work.

1.1.6 While drawing threads of relevant personalities, I specifically focus on those that are connected in some way to the artistic and cultural milieu. For instance, Gilbert Seldes played a role in defining cultural criticism and introduced Fuller to the potential of televised broadcasts in the early 1930's. Marshall McLuhan and Fuller had much contact, and both men at one point played significant roles in introducing the philosophical aspects of human/machine interface to Western society. Another artist worthy of mention is John McHale, who introduced Fuller to the British avant-garde in the late 1950's and then went on to write a biography on Fuller and to collaborate with him throughout the sixties and seventies. Perhaps the most significant personality link for this dissertation is John Cage, who was influenced by Fuller's ideas from the beginning until the end of his career. [top]