The Lesser-Known Experiments in Art and TechnologySymposium
The Tower
Auditorium, Level 1
From
to
Bringing together close to twenty curators, artists, and academics, the symposium offers a critical re-examination of Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.).
Through panels and presentations, it explores the foundational manifestations of E.A.T., its lesser-known social innovation projects across the globe, and a number of pivotal yet often overlooked contributions to its famed history. By contextualizing E.A.T. within an international legacy of initiatives fostering collaborations between artists and engineers from the 1960s to the present, The Lesser-Known Experiments in Art and Technology seeks to expand the canonical understanding of the celebrated organization.
The Lesser-Known Experiments in Art and Technology is held in conjunction with Sensing the Future, the first comprehensive exhibition in France to showcase the landmark movement. Organized in collaboration with the Getty Research Institute, the exhibition is on view at LUMA Arles through January 11, 2026.
Dates and Times: Friday, November 21 (5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) / Saturday, November 22 (2:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.)
Location: LUMA Arles, Auditorium, 1st floor of The Tower
Admission: Free, booking required
Note: The event will be conducted in English.
A detailed schedule of conferences and discussions will be released shortly.
Ticketing is now open.
Speakers
- Giulia Bini – Head of Arts, CERN
- Alex Klein – Head Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, The Contemporary Austin
- Michelle Kuo – Chief Curator at Large and Publisher, MoMA
- Nancy Perloff – Curator, Modern and Contemporary Collections, Getty Research Institute
- Maria Rosario Jackson – Professor, The Design School, Arizona State University and Former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts
- Francine Snyder – Director of Archives, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
- Paul Purgas – Artist, Musician
- Christophe Leclercq – Art Historian
- Carl Cheng – Artist
- Michelle Cotton – Artistic Director, Kunsthalle Wien
- Courtney Martin – Executive Director, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
- Bernardo Mosqueira - Founder and Artistic Director, Solar dos Abacaxis
- Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra - Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Art, University of London
- Valentina Ravaglia – Curator, Displays and International Art, Tate Modern
- Rattanamol Singh Johal – Professor, South Asian Arts and Assistant Professor of History of Art, University of Michigan
- Nina Wexelblatt – Art Historian
- Michael Connor – Executive Director, Rhizome, New Museum
- Legacy Russell – Director, The Kitchen
The exhibition
E.A.T. was founded in 1966 in the U.S.A. by Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer, engineers at Bell Telephone Laboratories—then the world’s leading center for electronic innovation and telecommunications research—together with artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman. Integrating theater, visual arts, multisensory environments, and groundbreaking technology, E.A.T’s pioneering cross-disciplinary efforts extended beyond the art world into social issues such as education and environmental sustainability. Echoing LUMA’s long-term research interest in the artist-led use of technologies, Sensing the Future provides unique insights into a foundational initiative whose influence on generations of artists continues to be central today.
Organized in partnership with the Getty Research Institute, the exhibition revolves around key elements of E.A.T.’s fabled history.
The Lesser-Known Experiments in Art and Technology is presented with kind support by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation at the occasion of Sensing the Future: Experiments in Art and Technology on view at LUMA Arles until January 11, 2026.