The Communication Studio

MIT: Arts and The Media Lab

The Architecture Machine Group

I was fortunate to be living in the Cambridge MA area in the mid-70's. As a community cable TV activist and new media wannabe, I often hung out around the emerging technology scene at MIT, specifically The Architecture Machine group, which later emerged under Nicholas Negroponte's visionary leadership as The Media Lab.

The Value Proposition

MIT Arts Program (1976)

,,, Film Animation Assistant Instructor at the University Film Study Center workshops at Hampshire College, MA.

  • Supervised class of 15 student animators
  • Lectured on animation history and theory
  • Tutored on animation technique
  • Helped produce a compilation film of class project work

Worked on the Video Production team

...documenting academic and technical lectures (for $3 an hour, as I remember)

  • Produced Video/Dance workshops, Served as technical director
  • Led production team in recording of educational videos
  • Audited Technical Courses in Video Technology

Hung out at MIT's Architecture Machine Group (ArcMac)

... which was later re-branded as The Media Lab by Nicholas Negroponte. Interesting stuff was happening

  • Aspen MovieMap : An interactive digital "map" of the cty of Aspen, captured on one of those newfangled videodisks
  • The Bicycle Repair Disc : An interactive learning tool, also based on videodisk technology
  • "Put That There" : An early visual expression of 'the desktop metaphor' for managing a workspace, using video projection and pointer technology (a laser mounted on a ring)