| ·Proceedings>>Introduction |
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INTRODUCTION
The International Symposium on Display Holography (ISDH) first convened on the campus of Lake Forest College during the summer of 1982. It was a result of having had annual series of summer workshops on making holograms for artistic and technical applications that began in 1971. The first workshop was a five-day hands-on course on the basic theory and techniques of making elementary transmission, reflection, and cylindrical holograms. Gradually, we added specialty workshop taught by international experts. Thus, ISDH was a culmination of all workshops on display holography into one educational and social event, with the additional subjects of art, history, and entrepreneurship.
The pastoral setting of Lake Forest College and its liberal arts tradition created a unique character to our symposium. Far away from distractions, a diverse group of participants from “hippies” in sandals to businessmen in dark suits were gathered for an entire week of informal dialogues (and yes, partying). The outcome was the creation of a community of a large family of members whose only common interest was in display holography.
The subsequent series of triennial ISDH’s from 1985 to 1997 proved this concept to be true: once you have attended an ISDH, you have become a member of the family. Each event became a reunion of family members and an opportunity to expand its membership.
My retirement in 1997 had apparently made the 6th ISDH the last. However, thanks to Prof. Hans Bjelkhagen, with popular support from “old” members of the “family,” he resurrected the tradition and held a resoundingly successful ISDH in St. Asaph, North Wales in 2006. In attendance for the first time was Dr. Frank Fan, president of AFC Technology Company in Shenzhen, China. He was so inspired by the experience that he decided to have his company sponsor the next event in China.
Having had no prior experience in organizing such an international event, Frank, in partnership with Ms. Dynasty Wang, devoted to the task selflessly, both in efforts and in costs. The result is the perpetuation of ISDH into the future. I believe all who attended the event held in the Waterlands Resort in Shenzhen will agree with me.
Let us, the participants, collectively offer to Frank and Dynasty our sincere gratitude: Thank you, Frank and Dynasty; thank you very much!
No effort would have made this event possible without the financial support of a US$20,000 grant from the International Holography Fund (IHF) under the direction of Dr. Andrew Pepper. This grant was given to Lake Forest College to be distributed to artists based on merit and financial need. With the devoted help of an Artists Award Selection Committee consisting of Margaret Benyon, Melissa Crenshaw, Linda Law, and Martin Richardson (and with me as a tie-breaker), this fund was distributed to thirty-four artists around the world. To my knowledge, this is the largest group of artists in holography ever gathered for any event.
Several of the award recipients were not able to attend for different reasons. Their funds were pooled together for Frank Fan to invite many Chinese, mostly young students, to participate, thus helping to create a future pool of new artists.
Because of the international financial collapse that occurred in 2008, IHF is now in the state of insolvency. Out of this disaster rose a heroic figure in the person of “Andy” Pepper. He, an outstanding artist in holography, refused to accept a grant to attend because he believed it to be a conflict of interest. I offered him alternative funding, and he again refused because he had already committed to meetings in Los Angeles at the same time of the symposium to meet with potential funding agencies in an attempt to resurrect IHF. We shall remember your deed, “Andy”!
While “Andy” is working hard on reviving IHF, let me make a plea to the rest of the holography community, especially members of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association: Please help re-establish the funding functions of the International Holography Fund!
True, we can always have conferences in holography and celebrate its technical and commercial achievements. But artists give holography its soul! It is this soul that distinguishes ISDH from any other conferences.
This symposium was not without problems. Within a few months before its opening, we discovered that holding a simultaneous artistic exhibition was financially prohibitive because of shipping and insurance costs. That was a time for innovation. Instead of a public exhibition, we converted our Art Forum, which had been an informal evening affair that allowed artists to give “show and tell” of their work, into a more formal occasion to exhibit works that they can bring. We made Tuesday, July 14th, the “Art Day,” and invited Chinese artists and collectors to join us at no costs.
The result was an excellent exhibition of highly creative works of art. Collectors from China paid thousands of US dollars for several pieces in the show. An award created by Prof. Martin Richardson for the “Best of Show” was won by Canadian artist Dr. Jacques Desbiens. Congratulations, Jacques! I was personally moved by your piece with a Chinese theme – two horizontal windows enjoined by a graceful tree branch, with mystic mountains far beyond.
To make this “show” possible, Melissa Crenshaw coordinated the Art Forum by networking with artists and Frank Fan’s team weeks ahead and arrived in Shenzhen several days before the symposium to set up the perfectly located exhibition next to the Assembly Hall. Frank not just provided all the hardware and lighting, he and his company created a set of originally designed and built lighting structures that’s perfectly suited for our purpose. The lesson learned is: with talent and dedication, a problem can become an opportunity!
A special note of appreciation is due to Joseph W. Goodman, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University and author of the classic textbook “Introduction to Fourier Optics,” now in its third edition. He honored us by accepting our invitation to be the Honorary Chairman. In spite of the fact that he was not able to attend the symposium, he wrote a paper with a video presentation that is astonishing in historical significance. Very few of us knew that in the late 1960’s, he and his graduate students were doing seminal work on digital holography and making holograms of an object twelve kilometers away!
During the last day of the symposium, I was handed a note from Professor Zhang Ying requesting a private conversation with me and her videographer. Her note began: “I come from the Central University of Nationalities in Beijing. There are 56 nationalities in our school. There are about 100 students who study holography with me each year, and most of them are Chinese minorities ----.” She was requesting that I give some words of encouragement to her students by video. For me, there is no greater pleasure than to comply.
As in any family reunion, there are somber moments when we commemorate and honor those who had cleared the path for us. On the evening of Wednesday, July 16th, we paid tribute to pioneers Harriet Casdin-Silver, Rudie Berkhout, and Nicholas Phillips. Slides were shown. Serious as well as humorous incidents were recalled by many dear friends and admirers. Those who wrote down their tributes will have them published in the Proceedings.
So, I look forward to our next reunion in full knowledge that ISDH is in good hands, and that it will go on beyond our times.
“TJ”, Chairman and Editor
Tung H. Jeong, Professor Emeritus
Lake Forest College
Lake Forest, Illinois, USA
Tung H. Jeong, as shown on the 3-D holographic television system created by AFC Technology Company of Shenzhen, China (details in article by Frank Fan and otherson pages ---------)
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