Origins of Virtualism: An Interview with Frank Popper

Surveying the literature on technoscience art: from pioneer stories to collaborations between artists, scientists and engineers as the object of study

“…This definition leads Popper to an exclusion of the scientifically and technologically oriented artists during the 1960s and 1970s, who he argues lack an 'awareness of the extent of social and cultural change produced by the latest technological developments' (Popper 1987, 302). In an interview in CAA Art Journal from 2004 Popper, although aware that a number of scholars today understand technoscience as described in the previous paragraph, defends his standpoint by describing what he understands as a difference between theory and practice (Nechvatal 2004). 2 In this article, I take a wider approach towards the concept of technoscience art.…”

Pertinent Concepts of Virtual Art

“…He considers modern virtual art as an improved version of technological art with an enhanced interactive component . According to Popper, this transition from technological to virtual art may be explained "Not only with radical technological changes, such as the latest computer developments and the wider use of the Internet and mobile phones, but also with an aesthetic change that concerned artistic interaction in a wider and on a more personal scale" (Nechvatal, 2003). Iryna Zubavina considers the "screen", "screen reality," and the related "virtual reality" to be central culture-forming phenomena (Zubavina, 2021, p. 59).…”