New Tendencies and Bit International, 1961-1973: Introduction

A Little-Known Story about a Movement,
a Magazine, and the Computer's Arrival in Art:

New Tendencies and Bit International, 1961-1973

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The Book

A Little-Known Story about a Movement, a Magazine,
and the Computer’s Arrival in Art:
New Tendencies and Bit International, 1961–1973

published by ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and The MIT Press, documents a short but intense artistic experiment which took place in Yugoslavia fifty years ago, but whose impact has been felt far beyond that time and place. Ostensibly, the “little-known story” concerns the advent of computers in art and a movement which began in 1961 in Zagreb. It was through the activities of that movement, known as New Tendencies, and its supporting institution, the Galerija suvremene umjetnosti, that the “thinking machine” was explored as an artistic tool and medium. Pursuing the idea of “art as visual research,” the New Tendencies movement proceeded along a path which led from Concrete and Constructivist art, Op art, and Kinetic art with its dynamic apparatuses to computer-generated graphics, film, and sculpture – from “programmed art” without computers to art generated or controlled by computers.

With their exhibitions and conferences on the theme of computers and visual research and the launch of the multilingual, groundbreaking magazine bit international in 1968, the New Tendencies transformed Zagreb, already one of the most vibrant artistic centers in Yugoslavia, into an international meeting place where artists, engineers, and scientists from both sides of the Iron Curtain gathered around the then-new technology. For a brief moment in time, Zagreb was the epicenter for exploring the aesthetic, scientific, and political potential of the computer.

This volume, edited by Margit Rosen, includes new essays by Jerko Denegri, Darko Fritz, Margit Rosen, and Peter Weibel; a great number of essays and texts that were first published in New Tendencies exhibition catalogs and the bit international magazine as well as historic documents. Over 650 black-and-white and color illustrations testify to the wide and diverse panorama of artworks that were shown in the exhibitions, and introduce the movement’s protagonists. Many of the historic photographs, translations, and documents are presented here for the first time. The book documents the long overdue history of the New Tendencies experiment and its impact on the art of the twentieth century.

Acknowledgments

ZKM wishes to express its sincere thanks to the Kulturstiftung des Bundes for financing this ambitious project and to the MSU | Muzej suvremene umjetnosti Zagreb for several years of excellent and fruitful collaboration.

The realization of this book would not have been possible without the help of those who participated in the events and contributed to the publications of the New Tendencies, as well as their families, and without the collectors, foundations, and museums, which provided us with information and image material.

We extend our sincere thanks to Roger Conover, executive editor at The MIT Press, not only for accompanying this project with curiosity and patience, but also for coming up with the book’s wonderful title.

The ZKM extends its especial thanks to Zagreb, to the staff of the Muzej suvremene umjetnosti. We thank the director Snježana Pintarić, who offered her support to the project throughout all its phases. Thanks also to the curator Jasna Jakšić, who assisted work on the book. Finally, our thoughts go to Marija Gattin, senior curator and head of documentation at the MSU Zagreb, who, due to a long and severe illness, was unable to accompany the book through to the final phase of production: she passed away in September 2010. Without her knowledge, commitment, and humor neither the exhibitions nor the book would have been possible.

Namely our thanks go to:

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A Little-Known Story about a Movement, a Magazine, and the Computer's Arrival in Art: