Cybersentics Book Club October 2026: Here/There
- WHO IT IS FOR: Art historians, new media practitioners, and anyone interested in the evolution of telepresence and digital collaboration.
- WHAT IT IS ABOUT: An exploration of the Satellite Arts Project and the history of telecollaborative performance through the lens of Kris Paulsen's research.
- FORMAT: A hybrid in-person and online book club discussion.
Join Gray Area for the October session of the Cybersentics Book Club, where we dive into the foundational history of telepresence. This month, we explore Chapter 4 of Kris Paulsen’s influential book, 'Here/There: Telepresence, Touch, and Art at the Interface,' focusing on the pioneering work of Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz. Long before modern video conferencing, their Satellite Arts Project explored how bodies and gestures could exist simultaneously across vast distances.
Whether you are joining us in person at the Grand Theater in San Francisco or tuning in online, this discussion offers a deep dive into how artists have historically navigated the interface between technology and human connection. We will examine how early telecommunication experiments attempted to bridge the gap of physical distance to create new forms of touch and presence in the digital age.