Panel Statement

Panel: Archiving Digital Heritage

Keywords: Electronic Art, Pioneers, Brazilian Art, Digital Media

The pioneering ideas and artworks of three major Brazilian artists – Waldemar Cordeiro, Abraham Palatnik and Otávio Donasci – are discussed in this paper. Waldemar Cordeiro started working with computers in the late 60s and produced some of the most important artworks of the initial phase of computer art. Although his career was interrupted by his premature death in 1973, Cordeiro left an incredibly vast visual oeuvre, and a great number of reviews and theoretical articles – including “Arteônica”, a manifesto on Electronic Art. Over the last 65 years Palatnik has explored the fusion of art, science and technology in creative, dynamic and kinetic ways. Now in his late 80s, Palatnik is still actively working on the conception of new art forms with different media. Otávio Donasci has artistically explored the combination of human bodies and electronic devices since the 1980s. His pioneering works explored the psychological dimensions of interpersonal relationships, encompassing a great variety of media to create innovative theatrical performances and interactive installations. In conclusion, we argue that these Brazilian pioneers brought extremely important contributions to the field of Electronic Art, and deserve greater international exposure.

• Rejane Spitz is a Full Professor at the Department of Art & Design at PUC-Rio, Brazil, where she teaches at both graduate and undergraduate programs. She was a Pos-Doctoral researcher at CADRE-Laboratory for New Media /San Jose State University (California, USA) in 2003, and a Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley’s Space Sciences Lab in 2002. She has a Ph.D. in Education from PUC-RIO (1993), a M. Arts in Graphic Design (1983) from the Central School of Art & Design (London, UK), a B. Arts in Industrial Design (1979) and a B. Arts in Visual Communication (1979) from PUC-RIO. Spitz coordinates the Electronic Art Lab (Laboratório de Arte Eletrônica), an experimental research laboratory working with art and technology at PUC-Rio. She has been working with computers in the Arts since 1983, and her works have been exhibited around the world. Rejane has also written extensively on social and cultural issues related to the use of technology in developing nations.

Full text (PDF) p. 763-766