Critical Grounds #9 – New media art in South America

Arshake is pleased to announce the publication of Critical Grounds #9, a new and important volume by Félix Suazo on digital culture in South America, in which the author focuses briefly but significantly on Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Brazil and Colombia. This is a reflection that centres on the relationship between art and new media in an area that is excitingly and energetically opening up to new opportunities.

Starting from a necessary historical outline, which presents early 20th century trends and the relationship between South America, Europe and the States, Félix Suazo sketches a landscape that from the 1960s takes us to the present day to demonstrate the poignancy of the experiments being carried out and the dynamic and heteronomous terrain, which allows the «sensibilidad nómada, efímera y reproductiva» (the nomadic, ephemeral and creative sensibility) of our times to be represented – an age increasingly connected to a techno-scientific culture, where our hands and mind interact with electronic devices which allow us to reflect on various contemporary issues.

«Critical Grounds», the Arshake’s publishing project directed by Antonello Tolve, is born from the desire to network precious and of great cultural interest books in open source electronic format. It is, in fact, a shelf which, together with the re-release of untraceable or forgotten essays, spreads rumors of the international critical scene to offer a wide-ranging look at the culturological contemporary landscape. Alongside this program “Critical Grounds” also proposes artist books, new authors and new voices of fiction to share with its authors and its readers a wide choice of assumptions, guidelines, designs on the creative area of the near future.