Electric Dreams highlights the creativity of international artists who pushed the boundaries of perception and sensory engagement. Using cutting-edge tools of their time—mathematical principles, motorized components, and nascent digital technology—these trailblazers developed immersive installations that play with light, movement, and space. From the psychedelic experiments of the 1950s and 60s to the machine-made art of the 70s and 80s, the exhibition demonstrates how artists envisioned the future with the tools at hand.
Prepare to step into a dazzling realm where art and technology collide. Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet, a major exhibition at Tate Modern running until 1 June 2025, celebrates the trailblazing artists who embraced technology to create immersive, mind-expanding works. Featuring over 150 pieces by more than 70 artists, many exhibited in the UK for the first time, Electric Dreams is a fascinating exploration of how creative minds reclaimed technology to shape the future of art.
The exhibition traces the evolution of tech-inspired art from the 1950s to the dawn of the internet. Pioneers from Asia, Europe, and the Americas reimagined the role of machines, often repurposing tools initially developed for military or industrial use to craft mesmerizing works of optical, kinetic, and digital art. These early innovators stretched the limits of imagination, offering new ways to engage with light, movement, and perception.
Among the standout pieces is Atsuko Tanaka’s iconic Electric Dress (1957), a garment of brightly lit circuits, documented through photographs and accompanied by her stunning, circuit-like drawings. Visitors can also experience Carlos Cruz-Diez’s Chromointerferent Environment, a hypnotic installation of moving projections that create a kaleidoscope of colors, and Brion Gysin’s Dreamachine, a mechanical device producing dreamlike visual patterns. Tatsuo Miyajima’s Lattice B (1990) adds a meditative layer, with its flashing LED lights exploring how humans perceive and measure time.
The exhibition’s thematic groupings highlight significant milestones in tech art history. From Germany’s ZERO group to Italy’s Arte Programmata movement, these works reflect shared obsessions with abstraction, kineticism, and cybernetics. London’s landmark Cybernetic Serendipity (ICA, 1968) is revisited alongside early AI-driven works like Harold Cohen’s painting generated by his groundbreaking AARON software.
DIY creativity also takes center stage, with Nam June Paik’s video synthesizer and Sonia Landy Sheridan’s experiments with photocopiers showcasing how artists turned everyday tools into instruments of innovation.
The exhibition shines a spotlight on artists who embraced early digital technologies. Palestinian artist Samia Halaby taught herself to code on an Amiga computer in the 1980s, producing kinetic digital paintings. Suzanne Treister’s Fictional Videogame Stills from the early 1990s offer a prescient view of the blending of art and gaming.
The journey concludes with some of the earliest experiments in virtual reality. Visitors can interact with Liquid Views (1992), a digital pool by Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss that reflects the user’s image, or view Canadian First Nations artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun’s Inherent Rights, Vision Rights (1992), a mystical VR experience displayed on a vintage monitor.
Visitors will witness revolutionary works of optical, kinetic, programmed, and digital art, many of which transformed galleries into interactive sensory environments. Among the highlights is Carlos Cruz-Diez’s Environnement Chromointerférent, an installation that immerses you in shifting patterns of light and color. Experience firsthand how early tech-inspired art sought to challenge and expand the viewer’s perspective.
The exhibition is open through to June 1 2025.
