“Co-Evolution of Human Systems and Tool Systems”
by Eileen Clegg and Valerie Landau and developed with Douglas Engelbart, 2008
Print from the original hand-drawn mural created for Bruce Horn
Gifted to the Electronic Literature Lab by Bruce Horn, April 2026
On December 9, 2008, a celebration was held at Stanford University in honor of the 40th anniversary of Douglas Engelbart’s “Mother of All Demos.” To commemorate the event, a 4 x 24-foot mural, titled “Co-Evolution of Human Systems and Tool Systems,” was hand-drawn by Eileen Clegg and Valerie Landau and developed with Engelbart. It was exhibited at the “Program for the Future” conference at the Tech Museum of Innovation that took place simultaneously to the celebration. Sometimes also referred to as “The Engelbart Hypothesis,” the information covers a period of 1925, the year Engelbart was born, to 2023, fifteen years past the anniversary year, and conveys his theory that organizations and technologies mutually shape one another, enhancing shared intelligence to tackle complex global challenges through collaborative innovation.
Following the event Bruce Horn, the Apple pioneer who produced the original Finder in 1983-84, asked the artists if they would create a smaller version for him. The result is a 17” x 6’11” size poster that Clegg signed in red ink. It hung in Horn’s office at The Apple Corporation before it was moved to his home in Seattle. It was then gifted to Dene Grigar’s Electronic Literature Lab at Washington State University Vancouver following a talk Horn gave to Grigar’s students in the Internet Revolutions class on April 16, 2026, with the idea that it is now accessible to students for learning their cultural digital history. It now is prominently displayed in the hallway outside the lab for all to see and experience.