[ISEA2013] Panel: Yto Aranda & Pamela Figueroa – Latin American Kinetic Art and Its Relationship With Electronic Art: Gyula Kosice and Abraham Palatnik

Panel Statement

Panel: Latin American Forum #2

Keywords: kinetic art, electronic art history, Latin American art, lumino kinetic art

This paper focuses on the works of Latin American artists Gyula Kosice and Abraham Palatnik, looking to trace relationships between kinetic and electronic art in Latin America. Some characteristics they share are the inclusion of spectator participation and the early use of lumino kinetic technology in their work. These artists were both pioneers in kinetic art, as well in the use of technology in art, incorporating movement and technology before the concept of ‘Kinetic Art’ was introduced by the 1955 exhibition Le Mouvement at the Galerie Denise René.

Our investigation focuses on Latin American artists and works of KINETIC ART, a category within the visual arts introduced in the 50′s, bringing together a diverse rang of works which had in common being through movement, moving to the problems of visual perception (Op-art), the use of the light (Lumino kinetic art) and movement (in the work and the spectator’s action). Our approach in this range is to establish the relationship between kinetic and electronic art, first rescuing the pionering of lumino kinetic art works in the artistic use of technology and second, to analyze common problems less obvious between the kinetic and electronic art in relation to the union of science and art, the incorporation of space and time in the work, and the centrality of spectator participation. For this we investigated artists and works from Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Venezuela, positioning the kinetic analysis in and from Latin America and from country to country, in a reading that considers exchanges and influences between Latin Americans and reciprocally with Europe and the U.S., not noticing centers or peripheries, but posing it as sharing networks. cinetica.cl

  • Yto Aranda, artist, Santiago, Chile
  • Pamela Figueroa, independent researcher, Santiago, Chile

Full text (PDF) p.  404-407