mouse-age

how the computer mouse has changed the world rise and fall of a plastic creature

When Douglas C. Engelbert from the Stanford Research Institute in California developed 1968 a wooden box named ,,X-Y position indicator for a display System“ nobody was interested in this useless toy.

Two young Swiss engineers, Daniel Borel and Pierluigi Zappacosta, founded 1981 ,,Logitech“. They took up Engelbert‘s idea and transformed his clumsy box into a handy little animal, taped to a point, with a fat back part, and a long tau: the Computer mouse was born. Later on Steve Jobs, the founder of ,,Apple“, and finally Bill Gates helped the plastic rodent to spread all over the world. Today no business, no communications, no informations can do without it. lt has changed the world — for better or worse? But how tragic: with development it is going to loose its tail. In the open country no mouse can survive without it! And within the next decade it will probably have died out.

What do you think about the Computer mouse? How has it influenced you and our world? Save it for the future by your art work!

I am a librarian at the Technical University of Munich — nowadays I

nearly handle any books but sit in front of the Computer all day long.

Privately I am working on rats and mice in culture and history. My

collection ineludes 13.000 postcards, 1500 books, 5000 figures, and

1000 pieces of art.

In 2000, I had the project ,,Rats and mice — think twice!“, and in 2002 ,,Pied Pipers of today“ which most of you attended. They were a big success, and the exhibitions in Berlin and Hamelin were even honored by the local press. Thank you for your support!

For a documentation and exhibition of cartoons, caricatures, photographs, paintings, collages, etc. of the computer mouse I need contributions from artists all over the world. So please join! The exhibition will take place in Berlin in 2005. Each contributor will get documentation. I am looking forward to your works!

Christa Behmenburg

Max-Planck-Str. 64

D 85375 Neufahrn

Germany

documentation exhibition

deadline:

April 2004

all techniques size: postcard

no return no jury nonprofit