Ever since it was founded, the CAYC (Centro de Arte y Comunicación), helmed by the cultural promoter, artist, and businessman Jorge Glusberg, was intended as an interdisciplinary space where an experimental art movement could flourish. The establishment of collaborative networks connecting local and international artists and critics played an important role in this process. In addition to the exhibitions, a program of different activities provided viewers with a greater chance of seeing the latest innovations in art and scientific thought. According to Glusberg, the coordination between theoretical thinking and artistic practice was a key factor in the achievement of social change.
Technology, architecture, design, industry, and the hard (“exact”) sciences, as well as social and behavioral sciences were fundamental specializations in the CAYC’s interdisciplinary project and had been since its inception. In its early years the center organized the Jornadas Intensivas de Discusión, which addressed issues that emerged from various trends.
This newsletter announced the second meeting devoted to art and industry, and a new relationship that replaced patronage with collaboration. Defining art as “communication”—and therefore a structure for the exchange of information—it mentions international artists and collectives that were pioneers in facilitating liaisons of this kind, such as Jeffrey Shaw (1944–2002), and the Artist Placement Group (APG), founded in 1966 in London by Barbara Steveni (1928–2020) and John Latham (1921–2006). Latham connected Conceptual artists with government departments and companies to influence the decision-making process in such institutions and take art beyond the confines of galleries and museums (GT-436; doc. no. 1476514). Others in this field included Les Levine (b. 1935) and his project NIL (Negotiable Intelligence Logistics), which offered services from the art world through a catalogue that was made available to companies. And, finally, N.E. Thing Co. (1967–78), which was the collective founded by Iain (b. 1936) and Ingrid Baxter (b. 1938), art book publishers who also researched art, domestic, and corporate systems as they relate to everyday life.