1990:TheFirstStepsofGreekMediaArt

In1990,GreecegainedaccesstotheInternet[47]through,
theNationalCentreforScientificResearchDemokritos,which
wasthefirstWorldWideWebprovider(PSTN/ISDNmodem
dialup),connectingthecountrytotherestofthe
technologicallyadvancedworld.TheuseoftheInternetspread
after1995,eveninthetechnologicallyadvancedcountries.In
thebeginning,thenewdemonsthatemergedwiththenew
mediumseemedtointimidateeventhemostpioneeringartists
ofmodernartinAthens.Theyconsidereditasaterra
incognitathatwasabletobringglobalchangesbeyondthe
Greekcapitalandtheywereright.
Inthelastdecadeofthe20thcentury,aseriesofpoliticaland
scientificeventschangedtheimageoftheworldasweknewit
andasaconsequencescientificrealityseemedtobecompeting
withsciencefictionregardinginventiveness.Alreadyinthelate
1950s,accordingtoJeanFrancoisLyotard(1979),
Postmodernismthatwasassociatedwiththetechnologicaland
biotechnologicalrevolutionhadbegun.AsRobertAtkins,
directorofMediaChannelandresearcherattheCarnegieMellon
UniversityintheUSA,arguedinthisMediadominatedera,art
isanothercommunicationmediumthatcriticisesthe
consciousnessindustryandraiseschallengingquestionsabout
ourworld.However,beyondtheculturalandpolitical,andoften
activistdimensionsofnewmediaart,therearealso
philosophicalissuesthatneedtobeexplored.Today,what
couldwepossiblymeanbythephrasesenseperceivedreality
atatimewhentechnologythroughsensorsprovidesthree
dimensionalmodels,virtualrealityandthecyberspace?Thatis
tosayasensoryperceptionthatdiffersfromwhat,until
recently,wecalledrealorrealistic.Moreover,whatisatstake
betweenthelocalculturalidentityandtherespectforcultural
diversityintheinterculturalsocietyoftheInternet?Anna
Hatziyiannaki,2005[48].
In1990,theMediaandCommunicationDepartmentofthe
UniversityofAthens[49]wasfoundedandthreeyearslater,
theLaboratoryofNewTechnologieswaslaunched.In199091,
ManthosSantorineoscreatedFournos,anartspacethat
initiallyhostedvideoartexhibitionsofGreekartistsandlater
multimediaart.Inparallel,hecollaboratedwiththeIleana
TountaContemporaryArtCentre[50],whosedepartmentof
ArtandTechnologyorganizedtalksandexhibitionsonthe

subjectofnewtechnologyfortheAthenianaudience.Atthis
time,someofthevenuesthatpromotedthepresentationof
MediaArtweretheEugenidesFoundation[51]andthe
ContemporaryMusicResearchCentreforElectronicMusic.

MakisFarosSuspectDevices,20102011

Amongtheyoungartists,MakisFaros[52]hasbeenan
electronicmusiccomposersincethelate1980sandfrom1994
to1999hewrotealgorithmsandimplementedinteractivityin
hismusicprojectsandartworksaswellasinhissound
installations.[53]HecollaboratedwithTakisZervedas[54],
whohadartandtechnologyinstallationsexhibitedattheNees
MorfesGallery,thesubsequentInstituteofContemporary
GreekArt.[55]
In1996,theengineerDimitrisSkoufis(19532007)andtheart
historianandjournalist,AnnaHatziyiannakifounded
www.artopos.org,thefirstGreekezineaboutart.Theywere
thenucleusofaninterdisciplinarygroupconsistingofyoung
graphicandwebdesigners.Thefirstpeoplewhojoinedthe
groupwereAndreasDanielandArisPasouris.Theaimof
www.artopos.orgwastoshowselectedartworksbyGreek
artiststotheGlobalVillage,todeveloptechnological
proposalsforonlinecurating,andconnecttheyoungGreek
mediaartistswiththeinternationaldevelopmentsandevents.
AllovertheWorldthereisabroader,ongoingdiscussion

aboutthefutureofMuseumsandArtGalleries,astheyare
facingtherumoredcompetitionofthegallopingmultimedia
industry:therealmuseumisfacingthecompetitionofa
transcendentalbutreal(althoughvirtual...)formofthe"Musee
Imaginaire",asenvisagedbyAndreMalraux.()Iamoften
watchingwithpuzzlement,anger,anxiety,anddistressthata
considerablepartofthesocalledintelligentsiaandalsosome
ofthedirectlyinvolvedstatesmenisrefusingtolooktowards
thefuturewhichwillsoonbecomethepresentwith
mathematicaldetermination.Iamhearingpeopleregurgitating
profoundandoftenlinguisticallyunintelligibleandlogically
danglingexorcisms,insteadofwhatisurgentlyneeded:
creativediscussionand,evenmoreso,creativeaction.Dimitris
Skoufis,1996[56]
Intheyearsfrom1996to1999,thefirstinfrastructuresfor
MediaArt,suchasinstitutionsandvenues,werecreated.These
includedtheStateMuseumofContemporaryArtinThessaloniki
(1997)[57]andtheFoundationoftheHellenicWorld(1997)
[58],whosemissionfocusedonnewtechnologiesand
educationviatechnologicalapplications.In19971998,ASFA
professorsRenaPapaspyrouandTheofilosPatraskidisinvited
VassilisVlastaras[59],agraduateoftheSchool,whohadjust
receivedhisMastersdegreeinmultimediainLondon,torunthe
multimediasectionsintheirLabs.In1998,theAthensSchoolof
FineArtsintroducedaMastersprogrammeinDigitalArts[60],
whichcoincidedwiththefirstGreekFestivalforArtand
TechnologythattookplaceattheFournosCentreforDigital
Culture.Thefollowingyear,Technopolis(1999)[61],an
industrialandculturalcentreof10,000sq.m,openeditsdoors
intheGaziareaofAthensandbecameameetingplaceofart
andtechnology,music,festivalsandeventsforyoung
audiences.
Inthe1990s,thedominantmediumoftechnologicalartin
Greecewasstillvideobutitwasmoreprofessionally
approached.Theelementsofsurprise,methexisandmagic
thatweretobeexperiencedinthemostwellknownvideo
installationssharedanaccessibleaestheticcodefortheregular
visitorstotheGreekexhibitions,whohadbeentrainedintwo
orthreedimensionalartandhadtosmoothlyfamiliarize
themselveswithtimebasedarts.Ifthe1980sareassociated
withKostasTsoklisartworks,namelyTheHarpoonedFish
andPortraits,inwhichhecombinedpaintingandvideo,the
1990swillbringtomindNikosNauridisvideoinstallations[62],
inwhichthemainthemewastheprocessofbreathingandwere

exhibitedinseveralbiennaleandfinally,thefirstyearsofthe
2000swillevoketheworkLunaDeducere[63]createdby
GiorgosGyparakis.

GiorgosGyparakis,LunaDeducere,2003

Duringthe1990s,theartistCostis(Costis
Triantafyllou)[64]workedwithelectronicsandprintedself
designedcircuitsinordertocreatehiswork
Lightnings.[65]ThearchitectAndreasAngelidakis[66]has
beenexperimentingwithmultimediasincethemid1990sand
hasrecentlyexploredvirtualarchitectureinSecondLife.The
artistAngeloPlessashasbeenusingtheWebasamedium
since1997.[67]Eachprojectisawebsitethatmainlyfocuses
onidentityissues.[68]Fromtheyounggenerationofmedia
artists,thesurprisewastheartistAlexandrosPsychoulis[69],
whowaspreviouslyanartistinresidenceintheTakisResearch
CentreforArtandSciencein19934.HewontheBenesse
AwardforhisworkBlackBoxatthe47thVeniceBiennale
whereherepresentedGreece.BlackBoxwasaninteractive
installation,whichwasactivatedbythepresenceoftheviewer
andtransformedimagesorsoundsaccordingtotheiralleged
emotionalstate.

MiltosManetasisaGreekartist,whostartedhiscareerquite
earlybypaintingtechnologicalcomponentsandlaterintegrated
newmediaintohispractice.[70]Later,hefoundedNeen,an
Internetbasedartmovement(2000)andintroducedthefirst
InternetPavilionattheVeniceBiennale(2009).
In1998,manysignificanteventstookplaceregardingthe
developmentofNewMediaartinGreece.TheFoundationofthe
HellenicWorldinvitedtheGreekresearcherandartistMaria
Roussou[71]tosetuptheVirtualRealityDepartmentfor
educationalpurposes.Thefollowingyear,theFoundationofthe
HellenicWorldpresentedanexhibitionfeaturingcuttingedge
technologyandVRprojectionsystems,forthefirsttimein
Greece.Inthemeantime,in1998,MariaRoussouwasinvitedby
ManthosSantorineostojoinhisteamasaconsultantat
FournosCentreforArtandTechnology,whichcreatedand
hostedtheFirstGreekFestivalforArtandTechnologyinthe
sameyear.AmongtheGreekartistsandscientistsof
technologicalart,MariaRoussouwasalreadyknownthrough
theInternetforhercollaborationwithAntonioMuntadasonthe
legendaryInternetartworkFileroom[72]onthesubjectof
censorship.ShewasalsoknownforherawardattheArs
ElectronicaFestivalin1998withherworkMitologies[73],
whichbelongstothepermanentcollectionoftheArsElectronica
Centre.[74]

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[47]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_access#History
[48],AnnaHatziyiannaki
http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathglobal_1_06/02/2005_1283729(Accessed
on:06/08/2012)
[49]MediaandC ommunicationDepartment,UniversityofAthens:
http://www2.media.uoa.gr/main/gr/index_gr.html(7/8/12)
[50]leanaTountaC ontemporaryArtC entre:http://www.art
tounta.gr/(Accessedon:13/08/2012)
[51]EugenidesFoundation:http://www.eugenfound.edu.gr/(Accessedon:
14/08/2012)
[52]MakisFaros:http://www.myspace.com/makisfaros(Accessedon:
07/08/2012)
[53]MakisFarosAboutsoundandothersuspiciousthingshttp://fixit
emst.blogspot.gr/2008/03/blogpost_14.html(Accessedon:29/07/2012)

[54]TakisZerdevas:http://www.zerdevas.gr/(Accessedon:29/07/2012)
[55]C ontemporaryGreekArtInstitute:http://www.iset.gr/(Accessedon:
29/07/2012)
[56]DimitrisSkoufis(19532007),C oFounder
ofwww.artopos.org,C opyrightBlues
http://www.artopos.org/issues/works/copy1bluesgr.html(Accessedon:
27/07/2012)
[57]GreekStateMuseum:
http://www.greekstatemuseum.com/kmst/index.html(Accessedon:
10/08/2012)
[58]FoundationoftheHellenicWorld:http://www.ime.gr/fhw/(Accessedon:
17/07/2012)
[59]VassilisVlastaras:
https://sites.google.com/site/vassilisvlastaras/home/sitespecificinstallation
andperformance(Accessedon:29/07/2012)
[60]AthensSchoolofFineArts:
http://www.asfa.gr/greek/index.html(Accessedon:17/07/2012)
[61]Technopolis,Athens:http://www.technopolis
athens.com/web/guest/home(Accessedon:17/07/2012)
[62]NikosNavridis:http://www.eflux.com/announcements/nikosnavridis/
http://youtu.be/4s3V_rNyUvo,http://youtu.be/FWT6xPooXqo(Accessedon:
29/07/2012)
[63]GiorgosGyparakis,LunaDeducere
http://www.gyparakis.com/en/projects/lunadeducere1.jpg,
http://www.gyparakis.com/(Accessedon:29/07/2012)
[64]C ostisTriantafyllou:http://www.costis.gr/(Accessedon:29/07/2012)
[65],C ostisTriantafyllou:
http://www.artopos.org/artists/cards/costisen.html(Accessedon:
29/07/2012)
[66]AndreasAngelidakis:http://www.angelidakis.com/,
http://andreasangelidakis.blogspot.gr/(Accessedon:31/07/2012)
[67]AngeloPlessas,http://www.angeloplessas.com/(Accessedon:
31/07/2012)
[68]AngeloPlessasMeLookingatYou:http://melookingatyou.com/
(Accessedon:31/07/2012)
[69]AlexandrosPsychoulis:http://psychoulis.blogspot.gr/(Accessedon:
03/08/2012)
[70]MiltosManetas:http://www.saatchi
gallery.co.uk/artists/miltos_manetas.htm(Accessedon:28/07/2012)
[71]MariaRoussos:http://www.makebelieve.gr/mr/www/index2.html
(Accessedon:17/07/2012)
[72]Fileroom:http://www.thefileroom.org/(Accessedon:17/07/2012)

[73]Mitologieshttp://90.146.8.18/en/archives/center_projekt_ausgabe.asp?
iProjectID=11861(Accessedon:17/07/2012)
[74]ArsElectronicaC enter:http://www.aec.at/news/en/(17/7/12)