[spectre] Message from Leonardo/ISAST Board member Joel Slayton

[Leonardo/ISAST]

June 5, 2003

Dear Members of the Leonardo Community,

I am writing today to ask you to join me in supporting LEONARDO/The
International Society for the Arts, Science and Technology. Like me, you are
devoted to promoting development and connections in art, science, and
technology. As the preeminent professional social network linking
practitioners and researchers together, Leonardo is the community that we
rely on to support our growth and knowledge in this field, and to provide us
with cutting-edge information that no other source offers.

To be perfectly frank, the very existence of Leonardo/ISAST is in danger.
With the recent economic downturn, some of our most devoted supporters are
unable to offer the assistance that we have grown to rely upon. Without the
support of our community, Leonardo/ISAST may lose its ability to provide you
with access to the most forward-thinking minds in our field. You can help
out now by going to http://mitpress.mit.edu/Leonardo/isast/donations.html or
by sending your gift to Leonardo/ISAST at 425 Market Street, 2nd floor, San
Francisco, CA 94105. (All donations are fully tax-deductible.)

I have served as a Leonardo/ISAST Board member for four years and as Chair
of the Leonardo Book Series since 2000. In that time, I have confirmed how
crucial Leonardo is to the careers and interests of artists, scientists,
engineers, and scholars working in our field. The cultural convergence of
art, science, and technology provides ample opportunity for artists to
challenge the very notion of how art is produced and to call into question
its subject matter and its function in society.

Articles in Leonardo/ISAST publications are read in over 40 countries across
the world. In the past year, in addition to publishing Leonardo, Leonardo
Music Journal, Leonardo Electronic Almanac, and Leonardo Digital Reviews,
Leonardo/ISAST, in collaboration with MIT Press, also produced two more
books in the Leonardo Book Series: Uncanny Networks: Dialogues with the
Virtual Intelligentsia by Geert Lovink and Virtual Art: From Illusion to
Immersion by Oliver Grau.

We were present at the ISEA (Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts)
conference in Japan, SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
workshop in Paris, and CAA (College Art Association) in New York. We
developed new initiatives, including Global Crossings: Cultural Roots of
Globalization, the LEA Educators Initiative, and ArtsLab. Our plans for the
future are equally exciting, including new benefits to members of our
community in terms of facilitating collaborations and ensuring quick access
to the most stimulating developments in the field, as well as maintaining
the highest standards of excellence in our archival journals. But these new
initiatives will only happen with the active participation of our community.

The complexity of the times is upon us both technically and culturally. The
need for cross-disciplinary ferment, new forms of collaboration, and hybrid
research enterprises designed to bridge the arts, sciences, and technology
disciplines is essential to making sense of a rapidly transforming world.
>From digital media to the terrains of biology, physics, materials science,
astronomy, cognitive science, engineering, medicine, architecture, and
social and information science, the scope of artistic and research
achievement is tremendous. Explorations of technology by artists-researchers
serve to illuminate not only the potentials of emerging technology but also
new structures of production, cooperation, and distribution. Leonardo/ISAST
through all of its activities provides context for understanding the
language and agendas of their production and research.

Leonardo exists because supporters like you are interested in the art and
artists of the future. But while our global presence and prestige increases,
our primary funding sources are feeling the burden of the present economy.
Now more than ever Leonardo needs your help. Our existence has never had
greater international impact nor been more at risk. We recognize the role
you¹ve played in Leonardo¹s past and invite you to be a part of Leonardo¹s
future.

Joel Slayton 
Leonardo/ISAST Governing Board Member
Chair, Leonardo Book Series
Director, CADRE Laboratory for New Media


P.S. Your donation of $1000 will make possible the publication of an
artist-researcher¹s article in Leonardo. $500 will sustain our Reviews
project for a month. $100 will offset the mastering of one track on this
year¹s Leonardo Music Journal CD. Visit
http://mitpress.mit.edu/Leonardo/isast/donations.html to support
Leonardo/ISAST today!