Beginning in 1965, ten New York artists worked with more than thirty engineers and scientists from Bell Telephone Laboratories to create works that incorporated new technology. The artists included, John Cage, Lucinda Childs, Öyvind Fahlström, Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Rauschenberg, David Tudor, and Robert Whitman. The engineers who participated in the project put in more than 8,500 man-hours of work, and  many other artists, composers, and technical people also collaborated on preparing or performing in the 9 Evenings pieces.  9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering, took place October 13 - 23, 1966,  at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York.

 

More than 10,000 people attended 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering. 9 Evenings left a permanent impression on the artists who participated and on the many younger artists who were in the audience.

 

9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering was the culmination of extraordinary activity in art, dance and music in New York in the late 1950s and early 1960s as well as the beginning of a new era in which artists in these fields explored the use of technology in their work.