Art and Innovation: the Xerox PARC Artist-in-Residence Program
Edited by Craig Harris (1999)

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Founded in 1970, the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) transformed
computing with inventions such as the graphic user interface,
client/server architecture, laser printing and Ethernet. While it didn't
always profit from its research (Xerox famously failed to market the
user interface later purchased and made famous by Apple Computers), it
undoubtedly fostered innovation and deserved its reputation as a
world-class research center.

It was also a place of great creativity, as these pages clearly testify.
While the now famous - and arguably unique - PARC Artist-in-Residence
(PAIR) program came much later, art formed an integral part of the
research undertaken at PARC from the very beginning, be it through early
artist/scientist collaborations or simply through the staff exhibitions
of Xerox and document art.

The difference with PAIR was that for the first time Xerox chose to
integrate long-term collaborations with artists into its research
environment, awarding them equal status and rights as any other
researcher in the Center. You may wish to read that sentence again.
Xerox were not the first corporate to work with artists at research
level (Bell Labs had fostered some research in the 60s) but their
systematic inclusion of artists at this level made the PAIR program very
different.

As John Seely Brown of PARC explains, "The PAIR program invites artists
who use new media into PARC and pairs them with researchers who often
use the same media, though often in different contexts. The output of
these pairings is both interesting art and new scientific innovations.
The artists revitalize the atmosphere by bringing in new ideas, new ways
of thinking, new modes of seeing and new contexts for doing. This is
radically different from most corporate support of the arts, where there
is little intersection between the disciplines. It takes a bit of faith
on both sides, and a belief that both science and art can use a little
shaking up, to engage in such a partnership."

Art and Innovation: the Xerox PARC Artist-in-Residence Program explores
in great detail the reasons for and mechanics of the PAIR program. It
includes detailed accounts of projects and extensive commentaries from
the artists and researchers who have taken part. Those artists familiar
only with more traditional residency programs will find it an
enlightening story, as will those who believe that there exist
fundamental bridges of interest between the arts and science communities.

At time of writing rumours abound that PARC is up for sale as Xerox
attempts to fight recent financial losses. Clearly the prospective loss
of such a facility would be a tragedy to both the arts and scientific
communities, and one can only hope that Xerox comes to its senses.

Turning the pages and watching the elements of the PARC
Artist-in-Residence program unfold one can only wonder: as Ireland is
already internationally recognized for its cultural and artistic
practices, and is increasingly touted as a world leader in software and
technology production, when will its artists have a residency program
of this caliber?

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[This book review first appeared in NEW MEDIA NOTES
http://www.artistsireland.com/nmn/, December 2000.]