Art and Science Laboratory (ASL)

The primary purpose of the Art and Science Laboratory (ASL) is to actively explore and encourage all facets of the electronic and computing arts and sciences as a new creative domain for human thought and action. The Laboratory is dedicated to the understanding that the digital computer has not only become the predominant creative tool for most artistic and expressive genre but also the central nexus supporting a cross-disciplinary unification of all the arts. Digital computing has also become the primary locale for a reunifying discourse between art and science. From this perspective the Laboratory's foremost interest is in defining strategies for the exploration of how digital code and computing tools define a new type of human perceptual space and a new potential for the creative imagination.

The principal areas of research and education include: electronic arts history and practice, post-cinematic aesthetics, robotics and haptics, sound art, chaos and nonlinear dynamics, bioacoustics, human and machine interface, video and web art, complex and adaptive systems, interactive and programmable space, distributed device network programming, environmental media construction and protocols, compositional linguistics, and evolutionary processes.

In addition to our rather formal research agenda, the Art and Science Laboratory is also dedicated to broadening its intellectual and historical interests to include and influence the emerging popular electronic genres characterized by the "electronica" and cyber arts cultures practiced by global youth. Our interest is in establishing an inclusive context for the international electronic art community where tools, concepts, and practice can be exchanged and enacted
within a broad historical frame of reference.

The Art and Science Laboratory is a nonprofit, educational, and cultural institution incorporated in the state of New Mexico. Nonprofit, tax-exempt status was granted by the US Internal Revenue Service in January 2000. In January 2001 ASL moved into its 2500 sq. ft. high-tech facility at 2904 Rodeo Park Drive East, Building 400, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505. The Laboratory also has extended affiliations with other private and public institutions in Santa Fe,
affording it access to a wide range of technical and research facilities.

Current staff include: Program Director David Dunn, composer and Assistant Professor at the Contemporary Music Program, College of Santa Fe; Scientific Director James P. Crutchfield, physicist and Research Professor, Santa Fe Institute; Artistic Directors Woody and Steina Vasulka, independent media artists; Systems Manager, Bruce Hamilton; and Administrative Assistant, Jennifer Schlesinger.

Structural Outline
The Art and Science Laboratory is organized in a three-part structure: 1) Workshops and Residencies, 2) Research Program, and 3) Electronic Art Archive and Dissemination.