EVL CELEBRATES 30 YEARS
June 9th, 2003
Categories: MFA Thesis, MS / PhD Thesis
About
(June 9, 2003) Chicago - Maxine Brown wrote the following tribute, given at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory’s (EVL) annual picnic.
We’re here today to celebrate EVL’s 30th anniversary year.
- 30 years ago, Tom DeFanti came to UIC
- 30 years ago, Tom and Dan Sandin started working together
- 30 years ago, what we now know as the Electronic Visualization Laboratory, started
To celebrate the occasion, I searched the web for a quotation or something appropriate to cite, and found the following Chinese proverb:
If you think 1 year ahead, sow seed.
If you think 10 years ahead, plant a tree.
If you think 100 years ahead, educate the people.
Well, the truth is, I don’t know what Tom and Dan were thinking 30 years ago! But, I do know that they were in pursuit of art.
Had they found it, we wouldn’t be here today!
Tom believes in using the most advanced technologies of our time to develop tools for artists (and scientists, too!). Dan taught me that artists should use the most advanced technologies of their time to create their art. This, my friends, is EVL’s fundamental philosophy, which has kept it going all these years. This is the true meaning behind EVL’s ongoing interdisciplinary collaborations.
- In the seventies (’70s), EVL focused on videogame technologies
- In the eighties (’80s), EVL focused on scientific visualization
- In the nineties (’90s), EVL focused on tele-immersion
- In the naughties (’00s), EVL is focusing on 10-Gigabit phone calls
Tom and Dan’s partnership created an environment that has fostered creativity among themselves, their students, staff, and collaborators. Their partnership has enriched many areas: in popular culture (from their developing special effects for “UFO Target Earth” and “STAR WARS” to our former students who now do effects for ILM, Dreamworks / PDI, Sony Imageworks, etc.); in art (from “EVE” events to the inaugural video collection at MOMA to collaborations with Ars Electronica Center); and, in technology (from GRASS and the Sandin Image Processor to Datamax to I-WAY to iGrids).
Their partnership has fostered the creation of new words that have been added to the lexicon of art and technology. To name a few: GRASS, EVE, Spiral PTL, Sayre Glove, Datamax UV-1, Sandin Image Processor, Interactive Image, CAVE, ImmersaDesk, ImmersaGram, PARIS, GeoWall, I-WAY, iGrid, tele-immersion, CAVELib, CAVERNsoft, YG, Quanta, STAR TAP and StarLight.
Their partnership has enriched the lives of students, staff, and collaborators - past, present, and future.
On behalf of the EVL family, I wish you [Tom and Dan], a happy 30th anniversary, and many, many more.