BOOK:Art and Electronic Media-Phaidon Publications

“Art and Electronic Media” by Edward Shanken is the newest title in the Themes and Movements series published by Phaidon, is a sourcebook on the prevailing art tendencies of our times. This is the first book to explore mechanics, light, graphics, robotics, networks, virtual reality and the possibilities afforded by the web from an international perspective.

By Efi Michalarou

“Art and Electronic Media” outlines the importance of figures previously neglected by art history, including engineers, technicians, and collaborators. In order to foreground continuities across periods, genres and media, Edward Shanken has organized the book around 7 thematic streams, 1: Motion, Duration, Illumination, 2: Coded Form and Electronic Production, 3: Charged Environments, 4: Networks, Surveillance, Culture Jamming, 5: Bodies, Surrogates, Emergent Systems, 6: Simulations and Simulacra and 7: Exhibitions, Institutions, Communities, Collaborations. Included are works by over 200 artists, both familiar like: Bruce Nauman, Chris Burden, Diller + Scofidio, Olafur Eliasson, Dan Flavin, Lucio Fontana, Jenny Holzer, Rebecca Horn, Joan Jonas, Robert Rauschenberg, James Turrell, Mario Merz,  as well as emerging and recent pioneers, such as: Robert Lazzarini, Blast Theory, Granular Synthesis, Simon Penny, Marcel il Antunez Roca, Mikami Seiko, and Jonah Bruckner-Cohen. The book is divided into seven thematic sections arranged chronologically. The book contains documents including artists’ statements, interviews, manifestos, project notes, reviews and articles by key critic; and parallel texts from other cultural, philosophical, and literary sources. Also featured are approximately 250 plates, including rarely-published installation shots and preliminary drawings. Finally, the book includes biographies of all the artists and authors involved, plus a comprehensive bibliography.