LACMA announces Art + Technology Lab, with support from Google, SpaceX
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has announced the Art + Technology Lab, which will provide grants and lab space to artists who want to experiment with new technologies.
LACMA said the new program and lab space would encourage innovative ideas and foster collaboration across disciplines and industries.
“The endeavor will award grants, in-kind support, and facilities at the museum to help artists take purposeful risks in order to explore new boundaries in both art and science,” the museum said Tuesday in a press release.
Google and SpaceX are among the companies supporting the Art + Technology Lab, and a grant from the Los Angeles County Productivity Investment Fund is supporting the public lab at the museum to house the initiative, including artist demos and public programming.
“In 1967, LACMA introduced the Art and Technology program to inspire collaboration with artists and industry,” said Michael Govan, LACMA’s chief executive. “Nearly 50 years later, we’ve updated the program to encompass the entrepreneurial spirit redefining so many industries. The Art + Technology Lab is designed to be an open and impartial space for artists to explore new frontiers.”
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The original Art and Technology program, at LACMA from 1967 to 1971, paired prominent global artists such as Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Claes Oldenburg and Andy Warhol with major technology and engineering corporations.
The new Art + Technology Lab is inspired by similar principles and will encourage new collaborations between artists and technology innovators in an independent lab setting.
Request for Proposals are available online. Grant recipients will pursue new interactive projects to be presented at the museum. Prototypes, case studies, and data resulting from Art + Technology projects will also be published online.
“We’re enthusiastic in our support of LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab,” said Thomas Williams, Google’s senior director of engineering and Los Angeles site director. “It’s daring and intriguing as a publicly accessible experiment between two worlds that can be well served by spending more time with each other.”
The Art + Technology Lab will be located in LACMA’s newly renovated Balch Research Library. The lab can accommodate up to 30 participants for hands-on workshops and public programs, including talks and demonstrations by artists and technologists in residence. Additional Art + Technology programming, including lectures, film screenings, and activities for students and families will take place throughout LACMA’s campus.
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