Abstract

The research focuses on the discourse and practice of new media art produced and presented in Greece from the early 1970s to the early 1990s and aims to answer the following questions:
i) In what ways and under which circumstances new media art, in the form of art made with computers, video and communication networks, were introduced in artistic discourse and practice in Greece in the 1970s and 1980s?
ii) Which factors contributed to the marginalisation of such new media practices in Greek art history and practice?
iii) How does the dissemination of these practices relate to other national and international histories of new media art?
For answering these three questions and for the purposes of this research, documents, catalogues, artworks, earlier historicising attempts and canonical texts on the history of art in Greece were evaluated through a new media art scope for the first time. Most importantly, this research investigated unpublished documents located in public and personal archives throwing light into the aims and methods of new media artists and organisations active in Greece during the period in question. In addition to written sources, artists and organisers were interviewed through a series of oral history type interviews with the aim of recording their perspectives and opinions, their aims and their otherwise undocumented efforts in presenting, promoting and producing new media art. The original findings of this research include a new chronology of new media art in Greece, an evaluation of the role of institutions and public support, an account of the efforts of certain new media artists for connecting to a global network and market, as well as an attempt to delineate common characteristics of the works produced and presented during this period. In addition, these findings have been used to re-evaluate the individual practice of important pioneers of media art in Greece, in essays, exhibitions and events that have been realised, published or are currently under realisation in connection to my independent and institutional curatorial practice.