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 Contemporary art is in somewhat the same position as science was during the explosive years of 1910 and 1920. Millions of people have become aware of contemporary art. For some art is an argument, an insult, a joke, a toy, a passtime or a sacred object. Art has become something to practically everybody, with the result that the artist must spend hours justifying him- self and what he is doing. The end result is the undernourishment of one of the great resources of this country--the dedicated artist. We are too hard on the artist. It is a triviality to suggest that art is as necessary as science.
 
 It is wrong, I feel, to make the withdrawal of the artist into his ivory tower a virtue. There are those who are interested in time reversal and there are those who are interested in menstrual cycles. By the very fact of their participation in this project, the ten artists involved demonstrate a committment not only to art but also to the presence of a general audience. Also, the involvement with professional technology is not only a logical extension of their previous work, but an approach towards the real world.
 
 Nine months ago when a group of artists and engineers met for the first time this was not so clear as it is today. That first meeting on January l4 with a group of personally interested engineers from Bell Labs might well have been a flop. Everyone seemed to be scared of everyone else. Nobody knew quite "Let's what to say until one of the engineers suggested to another: tell them about something they can use". The ice was broken.