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evolutionary theory, out of which he constructed a theological
framework of progressive developments, involving successive com-
plexifications of matter-energy in the universe. With humanity he
argued the earth had entered a new stage in this progress from
the biosphere, the layer of living things on the earth's surface, to the
'noosphere', a layer of mind covering the earth.
27
The ideas of theorists such as McLuhan and the work of artists
involved with the New Tendency, and that of Ascott and Pask and
others, demonstrated the potential of using new technologies in art.
This had been anticipated by Cage, who in the
s had
been one of the first composers to incorporate gramophones and
radios into his compositions, and earlier by Futurist composers such
as Luigi Russolo. By the late '
1930
s and '
40
s artists involved with
Performance and Installation were incorporating technology into
their work, in particular Fluxus members Wolf Vostell and Nam June
Paik. Vostell had first used TV monitors in his work in the late
50
s and early '
60
1950
s,
and continued to do so through the
1960
s. Paik had started to incor-
porate them in the
Paik bought one of the first Sony
Portapak video cameras, and used it to video the Pope's visit to New
York, which he showed in the evening at the
Café à Go Go
, a well-
known venue for art events, thus possibly being responsible for
the first piece of video art. Paik's work was one of a number of
attempts to exploit this new medium, which was both resonant, in
that it invoked the increasingly pervasive electronic mass media, and
convenient, in that it could be used by individuals. This coalesced
into the set of practices known as video art, to which many of those
involved in performance and related activities were attracted. Video
Art thrived in the late '
1960
s. In
1966
s with the work of Paik, Bruce
Nauman, Vito Acconci, Chris Burden, Bill Viola and Gary Hill, and
continues to be a vital aspect of contemporary art practice.
By the late
60
s and '
70
s computers were also being used in avant-garde
art practice. The possibilities of the computer as a medium for art
were demonstrated by defense-funded research into the possibilities
1960
