New book by internationally renowned media artist explores the technology revolution and culture

New book by internationally renowned media artist explores the technology revolution and cultureMay 31, 2002Judy Holmesjlholmes@syr.edu

Artist and theorist Tom Sherman, associate professor in Syracuse University’s School of Art and Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts, recently published “Before and After the I-Bomb: An Artist in the Information Environment” (Banff Centre Press, May 2002). A native of Manistee, Mich., and summer resident of Summerville, Nova Scotia, Sherman will celebrate the launch of his book with a reading, speaking and showing of selections of his video art from 7 to 10 p.m. June 13 at TRANZAC, 292 Brunswick Ave., Toronto.

“Before and After the I-Bomb” is an anthology of some of the best of Sherman’s thinking and writing about art, nature and technology from the last two decades. His series of personal reflections express both a love for and struggle with the new technologies and the cultural changes they have spawned. Most importantly, the writings provide an instrument for gauging the evolution of a human culture inextricably bound to Earth’s ecosystem, and a tool for negotiating the future, even if it is currently “obscured by a dense cloud of scrambled technobabble.”

Sherman is a media artist, writer and broadcaster. He knows the media environment from several perspectives, having worked in mainstream radio and television, but also from having produced groundbreaking art with video gear, industrial robots, surveillance systems and telecommunications networks.

A 1969 graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Sherman is the founder of the Media Arts Section of the Canada Council for the Arts, co-founder of Fuse magazine and represented Canada at the Venice Biennale. He performs and records with the group Nerve Theory and teaches media art history, theory and practice at Syracuse University. Sherman resided in Canada from 1972 until 1991, when he accepted a position at Syracuse University. He considers Nova Scotia’s South Shore his home.

The College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University is dedicated to providing a nurturing environment where faculty help students develop their creative and scholarly abilities. The college contains the School of Art and Design; the Department of Drama; the Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music; the Department of Retail Management and Consumer Studies; and the Department of Speech Communication. Together, students and faculty play a vital role in the academic and cultural life of the University as well as the greater Syracuse community.

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