In this text, artist Eduardo Kac discusses the emergence of digital art, which he considers at the margins of, or beyond, the models for production and reflection operative in conventional art. He asserts that art structured around technology and anchored in computers establishes a new space of action. Kac describes some of the high-technology systems on the rise, categorically affirming that this will be the art of the future.

Rio de Janeiro-based artist Eduardo Kac (b. 1962) emerged on the art scene at the center of what is known as the “Geração 80,” a movement characterized by a return to painting, an art form that was largely obsolete at the time. Kac is one of the pioneers in Brazil in work that investigates the relationship between technology and art. He is currently a professor in the Art and Technology Studies program at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Kac has published a number of texts on the juncture between art and technology, among them “Eduardo Kac: telepresença problematiza a visão” [doc. no. 1111128], “Em Brasil High Tech, o xeque ao pós-modernismo” [doc. no. 1111320], “GFP Bunny” [doc. no. 782231], “Origem e desenvolvimento da arte robótica” [doc. no. 1111127], and “As três dimensões do signo verbal” [doc. no 1111228]. 

Another internationally recognized artist from Brazil who addresses similar topics is Gilbertto Prado; his book Arte telemática was published in 2003. Some of his articles that address the questions of decentralization and viability in the new interchanges operative in art include “Utilizações artísticas de imagens em direto na world wide web” [doc. no. 1111125], “Os sites de arte na rede internet” [doc. no. 1111124], a summary entitled “Cronologia de experiências artísticas nas redes de telecomunicações” [doc. no. 1111289], and “Experimentações artísticas em redes telemáticas e web” [doc. no. 1111290].