| Electromagnetism permeates everything around us, yet it is abstract and complicated to understand. It is a topic often assumed to be relegated to theoretical physics, mathematics, and high technology. A paradigmatic barrier exists that limits our attempts to more fully understand the world we exist within and our relationship to it, moved primarily by this enigmatic and mysterious force. The obstacle is a centuries-old predisposition that electromagnetism is just another detail, and not a view of the whole.
The Electromagnetic Education Initiative (EEI) seeks to transform this situation by recontextualizing electromagnetic phenomena from a cultural perspective. By establishing a common knowledge of the vital role of electromagnetism in our art, science, and technology, public awareness can be fostered. The EEI will accomplish this goal in three phases: by organizing electromagnetic information online the Internet, developing a foundation for electromagnetic literacy, and designing a masterplan for the interdisciplinary study of electromagnetism. What is now an invisible topic will in turn be revealed. |
|
The EEI is composed of three consecutive phases, each 12 months in length. Project support can range from 1 to 3 years. Each phase prepares the groundwork for the next and is incorporated into the first phase website. The Future phase outlines the long-term goal of this educational endeavor.
Phase 1: Electromagnetic Internetwork website The Electronetwork.org website will contain electromagnetic content gathered online the Internet which will be organized into databases, featured works, hyperlinks, and electromagnetic educational materials. Electromagnetic Internetworking (electronetworking) will facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration of those artists, scientists, and technologists whose work aims to raise public awareness of electromagnetism. Phase 2: Electromagnetic Literacy project The common foundation of Electromagnetic Civilization will be excavated in a hands-on 'dig' of the new electromagnetic space-time, aesthetics, and culture using basic tools. Documentation will establish the basis for a common sense awareness and understanding of electromagnetism in everyday life, the world over. The research will be presented in an audiovisual online project and hosted at Electronetwork.org. Phase 3: Electromagnetic Studies project The story of electromagnetism will be rewritten in an Electromagnetic Cosmography which maps and diagrams its evolution from the Big Bang to the Internet. This new empirical model will recontextualize electromagnetic knowledge from an interdisciplinary perspective, and advance its educational research and development. A proof-of-concept prototype will be designed and hosted at Electronetwork.org. The Future: Electromagnetic Studies Institute The hypothetical offline component of the EEI would focus on incorporating the study of electromagnetism into the present educational system. A building architecturalized with electromagnetic aesthetics would locate a unique place in the world for electromagnetic education, research, seminars, conferences, exhibits, and archives. All materials would be copyright-free and made available at-cost or free-of-charge for educational use. |