The core of this newly founded collection is constituted by early computer artworks that the MSU collected during the five international exhibitions entitled New Tendencies, which took place in the period from 1961-1973.
The third exhibition of New Tendencies (1965) investigated the relationship between cybernetics and art, while the fourth (1968/69) was dedicated to information theory. In accordance with that, an international symposium on Computers and Visual Research took place in the same year, accompanied by the publication of the first issue of BIT international.
Among the paradigmatic pieces from that period, preserved in the New Media Art Collection, there is T4, an electronically programmed (computerized) object created by Ivan Picelj and Vladimir Bonačić, and an object by Vladimir Bonačić entitled DIN. GF100 -14.VB, likewise computer-programmed. In addition to the section on computerized visual research, presented at Tendencies 5 in 1973, the Collection represents authors of early computer animation and graphic art, such as Vilko Žiljak and Tomislav Mikulić. Owing to close personal and professional relations with the organizers of New Tendencies and the main theoretician of the movement, Matko Meštrović, as well as to the supportive atmosphere of the project, the New Media Art Collection managed to obtain a number of artworks by internationally renowned pioneers of early computer art, such as Frieder Nake, Hiroshi Kawano, and Georg Nees. Moreover, the Collection includes work by some of the most prominent representatives of the local new-media scene, such as Darko Fritz's project "End of the Message" (http://darkofritz.net ), in which he used video security systems, and the multidisciplinary web-project Closed Reality: Embryo by Andreja Kulunčić (http://embryo.inet.hr ), which reflects upon the bio-ethical premises behind the possibilities of manipulating DNA structures.
The activities of the Collection of New Media Art at the new building of MSU will focus upon acquiring new artworks by media artists and organizing exhibitions, educational projects, and symposia with the purpose of promoting and presenting new media art. In addition, the MSU is planning systematic networking and cooperation with art institutions that are involved in investigating the possibilities offered by the language of the new media.
Contact:
Collection Manager: Leila Topić, senior curator leila.topic@msu.hr
