The Tate Modern’s ‘Electric Dreams’ brings together an international network of more than 70 artists working between the 1950s and the dawn of the internet age, who took inspiration from science to create art that expands and tests the senses.
The Mancunion attended the press release, seeking insight from MA Art History student Melissa Bieksha, to check out the immersive early innovations of pre-internet artists and experience incredible vintage tech art in action.
First impressions
“I was excited to see this exhibition since it’s a period of technology that often flies under the radar. They also pulled lesser-known artists you wouldn’t encounter in the mainstream sphere. I expected many installations, media experiments, and sound art typical of the postmodernist mid-to-late 20th century.”
“Walking in, the layout was the first thing I noticed. You could see into further rooms, and there was a sense of continuation and progression. You’re almost immersed in multiple rooms at once as flashing lights peek around corners, and neighbouring eerie sounds and voices battle for your attention”.
Installations of interest
“The first piece that caught my eye was Otto Piene’s ‘Light Room’. Tate highlights the work in their exhibit catalogue, and for good reason. Having never been previously seen in the UK, the ‘Light Room’ features holes cut into metal around the room, where shining light exudes out, creating geometric patterns on the walls and across the dimensions of the space: swirling, dancing, ebbing, flowing, brightening, and dimming, to create an experience akin to watching stars twinkle across the night sky. I could’ve stayed in there for hours.”
“Another highlight was Wen-Ying Tsai’s ‘Umbrella’. Strobe lights rained down on vibrating metal rods, creating a slow, undulating effect. Viewers were invited to engage with the installation by making noise, influencing the undulating movement of the rod. It brought enjoyment to clap, shout, and sonically engage with the piece, while its companion ‘Square Tops’ sat neighbouring it.
“It was fun to see a kinetic sculpture that existed through audience engagement. Other technological artworks tend to be robotic or self-locomotive, demanding no input from the viewer to exist. However, with ‘Umbrella’, the viewer is invited to activate the artwork, breaking down walls between audience and art.”
Our favourites
“It was refreshing to see the diverse breadth of artists invited to contribute. We had groundbreaking figures from all over the world—those from Germany, Croatia, Japan, Korea, Italy, along with the UK and US. We also saw Palestinian artist: Samia Halaby.”
“The gallery would play with colours and optical illusions, creating a stimulating environment; the lasting effects of said optical illusions follow the viewer as the floors and ceilings warp and morph as your eyes adjust back to normality.”
“Francois Morellet’s ‘Random distribution of 222,048 squares using the pi number decimals 50% odd digit blue, 50% even digit red’, was as much a mouthful as it was an eyeful. Initially designed as a wallpaper, walking through this room was a real optical illusion, creating a frenzy on the eyes when making even brief saccades.”
Overarching Themes
“It was incredibly interesting to see many retro artworks, which at the time of their inception were considered on the cutting-edge of technological advancement, now resigned to antiquity as relics of the past. A big theme was the memorialisation of this bygone era. They were celebrated and recognised for their past innovation which laid the groundwork for today’s technology. The phrase: ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’, comes to mind.”
“Interestingly, there was an anxious energy emitted by the exhibition. The question of how these pieces fit into a world where everyday life is becoming increasingly integrated with artificial intelligence and resigning older technologies to the past. There was a clear presence of AI is in this exhibition since Anthropic—an AI safety and research lab—supported its inception.”
“This theme is further explored by the physical characteristics of the exhibition. Relentless, flickering strobes—reminiscent of dying light bulbs—follow the viewer as they stroll through the lo-fi-like ambience and are bombarded by illusions and strange noises. In some ways, it’s an unsettling experience. Through response to sound, movement, and engagement with the viewer, some pieces are almost humanized. Many installations felt like a conversation with the old relics, whereby you feel pity and irrationally empathetic to their fragility and redundancy.”
Closing Thoughts
“Overall, a very fun and thought-provoking exhibition. Those of any age can have fun with this experience and learn something new. The many installations and immersive works provided a lighter-hearted environment that gallery-goers can enjoy more than the quiet, stoic contemplation of traditional gallery spaces. We entered with mild skepticism and left with a greater appreciation for contemporary technological art.”
Go see this exhibition for yourself at the Tate Modern in London. ‘Electric Dreams: Art and Technology before the internet’ runs through November 28, 2024, to June 1, 2025.
