Sociologist André Lemos analyzes cyberculture and artistic production that makes use of electronic and digital media. Art always expresses the imaginary of its time, subsequently postmodern art differs from high modernism insofar as it opts for eclectic and fragmentary forms, that is, an anarchic aesthetic that eschews the rationalist and futurist imaginary of modernity. Postmodern art is open, rhizomatic, and interactive; in it, author and audience come together in a symbiotic fashion. In Lemos’s view, the age of the web (internet, virtual communities), in conjunction with the possibility of successive re-combinations of information, is the engine behind “cyberart.” Electronic art would be the art of communication. In a civilization where “the virtual” reigns, bytes (of information) replace atoms to gradually dematerialize nature. Electronic and/or digital art are at the core of virtual civilization with its interactivity, hypertextual potential, and (viral) circulation through planetary networks. To understand art from the late 20th century, one must understand the imaginary of cyberculture. The image no longer represents, but rather effects a “presentification”by means of a simulacrum generated by mathematical calculations. Representation no longer exists; in its place is simulation. What we have, in essence, is the culture of the hybrid, of fusion of the organic and the inorganic whose maximum expression is the figure of the cyborg (biological body with a wide range of technological implants).

André Lemos (b. 1964), who is from Rio de Janeiro, works in the field of sociology with a specialization in cyberculture, specifically with issues related to new technologies, electronic art and contemporary culture, cyberspace, and communication. He is the coordinator and author of a number of blogs, as well as the editor of magazines such as 404notfound (Universidade Federal da Bahia) and Cibercultura (Instituto Itaú Cultural, São Paulo). He sits on various scientific commissions and works on publications from Brazil and abroad, among them Sociétés (France), Canadian Journal of Communication, Wi and the Journal of Mobile Media (Canada). He has acted as a juror for events such as Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria), Memefest, the Prêmio Sérgio Motta (Brazil), and others.

Gilbertto Prado has produced a vast body of work, including “Utilizações artísticas de imagens em direto na world wide web” (see ICAA digital archive doc. no. 1111125), “Experimentações artísticas em redes telemáticas e web” (doc. no. 1111290), “Os sites de arte na rede internet” (doc. no. 1111124), and “Cronologia de experiências artísticas nas redes de telecomunicações” (doc. no. 1111289). For a complementary perspective, see “Mundos virtuais e vidas artificiais” by Suzete Venturelli (doc. no. 1111136).

Pertinent as well is “arteônica,” the pioneering work in electronic art by Concrete poet Waldemar Cordeiro (1925-1973). As early as 1969, he made use of enormous computers at the UNICamp (Campinas, SP) and the Universidade de São Paulo. See “Computer plotter art - primeira mostra na América Latina,” published in 1970 (doc. no. 1110487) and “Arteônica” (doc. no. 1110836), published in 1971.