In his paper The Birth of Intermedia in the Art of Robert Rauschenberg author deals with the contribution of Robert Rauschenberg to the history of modern intermedia arts. For a long time the Rauschenberg's installations and stage works were overshadowed by the works of his older fellows and collaborators John Cage and Merce Cunningham in spite of important fact that it was Rauschenberg who inspired some of their radical works and brought new impulses into their collaboration. Analysing the significant combine paintings, installations, and multimedia performances, the author explains the historical background as well as the driving impulses behind the crucial crossovers and inventions that mark Rauschenberg's shift from static media (drawing, painting, print) to the temporal an processual ways of representation (performance, stage design, installation). He considers Rauschenberg for one of the most inventive and versatile intermedia artist of the 1960s with remarkable sense for experimenting.
