Light and code: Revolutionary art of the 20th century

Technological progress and social change opened up new possibilities for artists in the post-war period and inspired them to create innovative works of art. Optical, kinetic and digital art were part of a new, global age: human life increasingly determined by technology. An exhibition at the Tate Modern in London shows the beginnings of this development from the 1950s to the early 1990s, before the quantum leap of the Internet – and offers interesting insights into the visions of the future in the second half of the 20th century. With over 150 exhibits on this complex subject, the Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet show is one of the most ambitious the Tate Modern has ever seen. It runs from November 28, 2024 to June 01, 2025.

Many of the exhibits are being shown for the first time in the UK as part of a museum exhibition. Radicalism and a love of experimentation characterize most of the works with which artists explored new artistic worlds. From early light installations to the first virtual reality projects in the early 1990s, visitors can expect some astonishing insights into the fast-moving world of technology: what seems self-evident today was ground-breaking not so long ago. The works of numerous renowned artists are brought together at the Tate Modern, including Samia Halaby, Charles Csuri, Atsuko Tanaka, Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Carlos Cruz-Diez, and Brion Gysin.