Water issues in the western United States include a long history of struggle, controversy and politics. Collaboration and compromise are required to achieve desirable outcomes in water quality and water rights. Collective Currents is an interactive art installation, developed collaboratively by a computer engineer and a multimedia artist, that explores the idea of cooperative experience in both literal and conceptual ways and creates an environment that makes reference to and engages the viewer to think about our ability to understand and solve environmental issues, specifically water quality and conservation, through collaboration.

ABSTRACT Printmaking is a fine art practice that encompasses a variety of media including intaglio, relief, lithography and screen-printing. In this collaborative research project the authors extend the traditional boundaries of printmaking to create editions of micro-scale prints on the surface of silicon integrated circuits using the layers of materials normally used for making transistors and electrical interconnections. The process by which the images are printed on the silicon surface is discussed, alongside some of the conceptual and technical issues related to creating printed images using this technology.