Leonardo

"Arteônica": Electronic Art

Author(s): Waldemar Cordeiro
Source: Leonardo, Vol. 30, No. 1 (1997), pp. 33-34
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1576373 .
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SPECIAL SECTION
Arteonica: Electronic Art
WaldemarCordeiro
lhe crisis of contemporary art is a consequence
of two variables: the inadequacy of traditional art media to
transmit information, and the inefficiency of the information
they carry in regards to language, thought and action.
I understand by "communication" the transmission and
processing of information, as well as the technical mecha-
nisms employed in transmitting and storing information.
Thus, communication systems comprise both the craft of
painting and the machine that reproduces or complements
functions of the nervous system, the brain or human behavior
in the creation of artworks, reproducing them through an ar-
tificial organ.
The obsolescence of the traditional communication system
of art resides in the limited consumption implicit in the very
nature of the transmission medium. Due to the limited num-
ber of possible viewers, the high costs, the geographic limita-
tions and the technical difficulties, the traditional communi-
cation system of art fails to live up to the qualitative and
quantitative cultural demands of modern society.
Traditional artworks are physical objects to be displayed in
physically determined places, and they assume the physical
displacement of the viewers. In a city such as Sao Paulo,
which has eight million inhabitants, and whose projected
population for 1990 foresees more than eighteen million in-
habitants, these communications media are not viable. They
will be even less viable for an international culture, which is
essential for the harmonic development of humankind.
These simple evidences do not seem to have been suffi-
ciently understood. Artists of traditional training try to ad-
dress the communications crisis by leaving the gallery space
and working in the urban micro-landscape or the regional
macro-landscape-wrapping mountains, for example. These
artists have not realized that what is obsolete is not the scale,
but the nature of the thing.
Traditional art is known more through mechanical and
electronic reproduction than through direct observation.
This communicative translation (or commutation) implies,
however, loss of information from the point of view of the
message intended at the origin. The reverse is also true: the
translation to the canvas of messages from mass media (pop)
does not escape from the same degradation of information.
The digital conversion of the analog image via screen or CRT
can substantially alter the gestaltic structure of the message.
The artwork,which implicitly defines the physical space in
which it is consumed, separates itself from the social environ-
ment. It requires a specific zone for its artistic fruition. The
informational crisis of contemporary art results from the con-
tinuation of tradition, which perpetuates the alienation that
results from the linear development of the artistic process.
This is also a form of isolation, not a physical but a semantic
one, inasmuch as the consumption of the artwork requires
? 1997 ISAST
ABSTRACT
Reprinted hereis Brazilian
previous knowledge of exclusive
electronicartpioneer Waldemar
repertoires. The communicative/ Cordeiro'streatiseonarte6nica,
informational isolation conflicts electronicart.Writingin1971,
with the open and interdiscipli- theartistforesawtheunavoidable
obsolescence oftraditional art
nary character of a planetary cul- withitslimitedsystemof commu-
ture. nicationandaccess.Theauthor,
The use of electronic media oneof SouthAmerica's firstcom-
may lead to a solution to the com- puterartists,writesoftheim-
municational problems of art, pending planetaryculture and
sees thecomputer as aninstru-
since telecommunications and mentforpositive societalchange:
other electronic resources re- electronicartcancontribute to
quire, for their informational op- greaterenvironmental balance
timization, certain forms of im- andcandemocratize thedissemi-
nationandreception of artitself.
age processing. In the case of
electronic art (arteonica), the
transmission of information does
not provoke a transformation. The use of new communica-
tions media would mean very little, however, if we do not take
into account the most complex cultural variables. When the
number of viewers increases, the cultural situation becomes
more diversified and the feedback becomes more complex.
As the understanding of general conditions grounds all cre-
ative effort, the creative act requires more complex methods
and more efficient media. It is in this direction that art will
find again the conditions to realize its historical role.
It is clear that the mere employment of the computer will
not signify the solution for all problems. We can see today a
tendency towards a technical virtuosity,which demonstrates a
sophisticated hedonism. This tendency, despite not formulat-
ing new artistic problems, has the important merit of
demystifying traditional art and contributing to an analysis of
mental processes in artistic activity, due to the automated
method employed. Should we handle artistic issues either
with machines or with teams in which the computer is a part-
ner, we will learn more about how individuals handle artistic
issues. Simulation efficiently and promptly duplicates tradi-
tional art production, which it drains and exhausts, thus issu-
ing a death certificate to misoneism. This tendency, as much
as it employs countless resources, is still limited to the isola-
tion I pointed out above regarding the diagnosis of the com-
municative possibilities of traditional art, even though in this
sectorial condition it promotes an iconoclastic operation that
is very hygienic. The most urgent problem is not a rivalrywith
traditional art, because such a rivalry would mean accepting
Waldemar Cordeiro (1925-1973). Contact: Analivia Cordeiro, Rua das Granjas, 506
Granja Viana, Cotia, Sao Paulo SP 06700-000, Brazil.
Originally published in Waldemar Cordeiro, ed., Arteonica (Sao Paulo: Editora das
Americas, 1972) pp. 3-4. This book was the catalog of an international exhibition of
computer art organized by Cordeiro and show at the Fundacao Armando Alvares
Penteado, Sao Paulo, 1971. Translated by Eduardo Kac.
LEONARDO, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 33-34, 1997 33
 a field of action that is definitely con-
demned to obsolescence.
~
. Another tendency in electronic art
aims at creating interdisciplinary works,
taking advantage of scientific research
and discoveries. These works borrow
from neurology and Gestalt psychology,
processing images with the aid of a com-
puter. This tendency inscribes itself in
the wake of Concrete art, which was de-
veloped in the historical context of the
first industrial revolution (Suprematism,
Neoplasticism, Constructivism, etc.).
These movements helped create a "ma-
chine language" appropriate to the com-
munications systems of the urban and
industrial society. In this sense we can
highlight the evident similarities be-
tween Concrete art and Computer art.
The tendencies in art which favored a
syntax of forms suffered a profound cri-
sis in the 1960s due, chiefly, to the ap-
pearance of a new popular mass culture,
made possible by electronic communi-
cations media. This phenomenon af-
fected in different ways the field of art,
particularly through conservative agen-
das such as Pop Art, New Realism and
New Figuration. The new popular cul-
ture became responsible for introducing
34 Cordeiro,Arteonica:Electronic Art: Arteonic
in art new variables that transcend styles
based on a syntax of forms. We must em-
phasize, however, the importance of the
development of syntactic research-
from mechanical media to electronic
media-for the cognizance of human
activities. The computer is acquiring a
prominent role in culture, as scientific
and technical methods change the sta-
tus of the image. Today we see applica-
tions in the areas of automatic pattern
recognition, creative programming, and
programming of critical studies of artis-
tic messages.
In Brazil, computer art started out in
1968. It has methodological antecedents
in Concrete art, which appeared in the
late 1940s and which peaked in the
1950s and 1960s. Concrete art was the
only art form in Brazil to utilize digital
creative methods. Coinciding with the
highest period of industrialization in the
country, Concrete art offered algorithms
largely employed in communications via
industrial production means. Visual
Concrete art had a major influence over
the Brazilian avant-garde in the fields of
poetry, music and graphic design.
When foreseeing the future impor-
tance of electronic media for Brazilian
culture, we must consider the variable of
territorial extension. The ever-expand-
ing telecommunications system consti-
tutes-concerning socio-economical
activities-a factor of relationship, ap-
proximation and integration. The same
communicative macro-infrastructure
could offer the means for the develop-
ment of an artistic culture that has na-
tional and international reach. In the
past, culture faced physical limits result-
ing from the settlement of national terri-
tory by different-sized communities lo-
cated thousands of kilometers apart.
Some of these areas of extremely low
population density were virtually unin-
habited and lacking modern conve-
niences. On the other hand, in other
communities, the population's coexist-
ence in excessively close proximity
ended up downgrading living condi-
tions and jeopardizing potential com-
munications. Electronic media could
correct these two anomalies and pro-
mote a greater environmental balance
between physical factors and communi-
cation itself.
-Waldemar Cordeiro, 1971