New Media, a virtual laboratory The combination of artistic talent and technology demands new forms of presentation and interpretation, to give form and content to vision. Working with the new media is interdisciplinary: — an exploration of the synergy between art and computers — the further development of multimedia and interactive art — gaining an understanding of digital culture and reflecting on its future In new media, art becomes a 'tele-transportable' concept. Due to the digital evolution, the physical interaction between art and viewer has been transformed into a virtual interaction. Navigating through images, sound and text changes the 'viewer' into an active 'participant' in an open creative process. Cyberspace offers a new perspective: real-time interaction. Computers and multimedia open up a new future for the visual arts with specific applications for individual expression, quality content and telecommunication. The digital laboratory of the new media is causing a veritable (r)evolution. Free shearing of knowledge, and innovative concepts offer us insight into the digital 'now' of film, video, performance, multimedia installation, CD-ROM and the Internet. Telematics, a product of globalization, is no longer just an option: it is a condition. Dr. Hugo Heyrman Santa Cruz 1996 || Museums of the Mind ||