INIS Series, INIS Series, 2025, volume 4
Title:
Cybernetic, Interactive Avant-grades and Digital Culture
Title in Bulgarian:
Кибернетични, интерактивни авангарди и дигитална култура
Author(s):
Svetoslav Angelov Kosev, "St. Cyril and St. Methodius" University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, kosevsa@gmail.com
Abstract:
This article examines the cybernetic and interactive avant-garde movements of the 1960s–1980s and their relation to digital culture. Key artistic examples are examined: the cybernetic sculptures of Nicola Schoffer (e.g., Cysp 1) and Roy Ascott's concept of "behavioural art", which show how feedback transforms art into a dynamic system. Interactive projects in which artists and engineers create performances with reactive sensors are also analysed.
The main thesis is that these experiments transform the audience from a passive observer into an active participant and lay the foundations for the digital era. On a theoretical level, the postmodern ideas of Lyotard, Baudrillard, and Jameson on multi-layered knowledge and hyperreality are included in order to explain the transition to multimedia. In conclusion, it is emphasized that the principles of interactivity, systematicity, and networking, examined in avant-garde practices, have been inherited in contemporary digital and immersive art, including in the projects of the art group Co-Interaction, where the viewer is a co-author in interactive installations.
The main thesis is that these experiments transform the audience from a passive observer into an active participant and lay the foundations for the digital era. On a theoretical level, the postmodern ideas of Lyotard, Baudrillard, and Jameson on multi-layered knowledge and hyperreality are included in order to explain the transition to multimedia. In conclusion, it is emphasized that the principles of interactivity, systematicity, and networking, examined in avant-garde practices, have been inherited in contemporary digital and immersive art, including in the projects of the art group Co-Interaction, where the viewer is a co-author in interactive installations.
Keywords:
Cybernetics, Interactive Art, Digital Art, Postmodernism, Interactive Installations, Hyperreality, Virtual Reality (VR), Network Culture, Identity,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55630/inis.2025.0401
PDF file https://www.math.bas.bg/vt/inis/series/book/2025.04/inis.2025.0401.pdf
Cite (IEEE style):
S. Kosev, "Cybernetic, Interactive Avant-grades and Digital Culture", INIS Series, 2025, volume 4, ISSN 2815-4231, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, pp. 09-17, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55630/inis.2025.0401
Cite (APA style):
Kosev, S. (2025). Cybernetic, Interactive Avant-grades and Digital Culture, INIS Series, 2025, volume 4, ISSN 2815-4231, Institute of Mathematics and Informatics – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 09-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55630/inis.2025.0401