In 1990, Greece gained access to the Internet [47] through,the National Centre for Scientific Research ‘Demokritos’, whichwas the first World Wide Web provider (PSTN/ISDN modemdial­up), connecting the country to the rest of thetechnologically advanced world. The use of the Internet spreadafter 1995, even in the technologically advanced countries. Inthe beginning, the ’new demons‘ that emerged with the newmedium seemed to intimidate even the most pioneering artistsof modern art in Athens. They considered it as a ’terraincognita‘ that was able to bring global changes beyond theGreek capital and they were right.

“In the last decade of the 20th century, a series of political andscientific events changed the image of the world as we knew itand as a consequence scientific reality seemed to be competingwith science fiction regarding inventiveness. Already in the late1950s, according to Jean Francois Lyotard (1979),Postmodernism that was associated with the technological andbiotechnological revolution had begun. As Robert Atkins, ­director of Media Channel and researcher at the Carnegie MellonUniversity in the USA, argued; in this Media dominated era, artis another communication medium that criticises the’consciousness industry‘ and raises challenging questions aboutour world. However, beyond the cultural and political, and oftenactivist dimensions of new media art, there are alsophilosophical issues that need to be explored. Today, whatcould we possibly mean by the phrase ’sense­perceived reality‘at a time when technology through sensors provides three­dimensional models, virtual reality and the cyberspace? That isto say a sensory perception that differs from what, untilrecently, we called real or realistic. Moreover, what is at stakebetween the local cultural identity and the respect for culturaldiversity in the intercultural society of the Internet?” AnnaHatziyiannaki, 2005 [48].

In 1990, the Media and Communication Department of theUniversity of Athens [49] was founded and three years later,the Laboratory of New Technologies was launched. In 1990­91,Manthos Santorineos created ‘Fournos’, an art space thatinitially hosted video art exhibitions of Greek artists and latermultimedia art. In parallel, he collaborated with the IleanaTounta Contemporary Art Centre [50], whose department ofArt and Technology organized talks and exhibitions on the

1990: The First Steps of Greek Media Art

Makis Faros “Suspect Devices”, 2010­2011

Among the young artists, Makis Faros [52] has been anelectronic music composer since the late 1980s and from 1994to 1999 he wrote algorithms and implemented interactivity inhis music projects and artworks as well as in his soundinstallations. [53] He collaborated with Takis Zervedas [54],who had art and technology installations exhibited at the NeesMorfes Gallery, the subsequent Institute of ContemporaryGreek Art. [55]

In 1996, the engineer Dimitris Skoufis (1953­2007) and the arthistorian and journalist, Anna Hatziyiannaki foundedwww.artopos.org, the first Greek e­zine about art. They werethe nucleus of an interdisciplinary group consisting of younggraphic and web designers. The first people who joined thegroup were Andreas Daniel and Aris Pasouris. The aim ofwww.artopos.org was to show selected artworks by Greekartists to the “Global Village”, to develop technologicalproposals for online curating, and connect the young Greekmedia artists with the international developments and events.

“All over the World there is a broader, on­going discussion

subject of new technology for the Athenian audience. At thistime, some of the venues that promoted the presentation ofMedia Art were the Eugenides Foundation [51] and theContemporary Music Research Centre for Electronic Music.

about the future of Museums and Art Galleries, as they arefacing the rumored competition of the galloping multimediaindustry: the real museum is facing the competition of atranscendental but real (although virtual...) form of the "MuseeImaginaire", as envisaged by Andre Malraux. (…) I am oftenwatching with puzzlement, anger, anxiety, and distress that aconsiderable part of the so­called intelligentsia ­and also someof the directly involved statesmen­ is refusing to look towardsthe future which will soon become the present withmathematical determination. I am hearing people regurgitatingprofound ­and often linguistically unintelligible and logicallydangling­ exorcisms, instead of what is urgently needed:creative discussion and, even more so, creative action”. DimitrisSkoufis, 1996 [56]

In the years from 1996 to 1999, the first infrastructures forMedia Art, such as institutions and venues, were created. Theseincluded the State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki(1997) [57] and the Foundation of the Hellenic World (1997)[58], whose mission focused on new technologies andeducation via technological applications. In 1997­1998, ASFAprofessors Rena Papaspyrou and Theofilos Patraskidis invitedVassilis Vlastaras [59], a graduate of the School, who had justreceived his Master’s degree in multimedia in London, to run themultimedia sections in their Labs. In 1998, the Athens School ofFine Arts introduced a Master’s programme in Digital Arts [60],which coincided with the first Greek Festival for Art andTechnology that took place at the Fournos Centre for DigitalCulture. The following year, Technopolis (1999) [61], anindustrial and cultural centre of 10,000 sq.m, opened its doorsin the Gazi area of Athens and became a meeting place of artand technology, music, festivals and events for youngaudiences.

In the 1990s, the dominant medium of technological art inGreece was still video but it was more professionallyapproached. The elements of surprise, ’methexis‘ and magicthat were to be experienced in the most well­known videoinstallations shared an accessible aesthetic code for the regularvisitors to the Greek exhibitions, who had been trained in twoor three­dimensional art and had to smoothly familiarizethemselves with time­based arts. If the 1980s are associatedwith Kostas Tsoklis’ artworks, namely “The Harpooned Fish”and “Portraits”, in which he combined painting and video, the1990s will bring to mind Nikos Nauridis’ video installations [62],in which the main theme was the process of breathing and were

exhibited in several biennale; and finally, the first years of the2000s will evoke the work “Luna Deducere” [63] created byGiorgos Gyparakis.

Giorgos Gyparakis, “Luna Deducere”, 2003

During the 1990s, the artist Costis (CostisTriantafyllou) [64]worked with electronics and printed self­designed circuits in order to create his work“Lightnings”. [65] The architect Andreas Angelidakis [66] hasbeen experimenting with multimedia since the mid­1990s andhas recently explored virtual architecture in Second Life. Theartist Angelo Plessas has been using the Web as a mediumsince 1997. [67] Each project is a website that mainly focuseson identity issues. [68] From the young generation of mediaartists, the surprise was the artist Alexandros Psychoulis [69],who was previously an artist­in­residence in the Takis’ ResearchCentre for Art and Science in 1993­4. He won the BenesseAward for his work “Black Box” at the 47th Venice Biennalewhere he represented Greece. “Black Box” was an interactiveinstallation, which was activated by the presence of the viewerand transformed images or sounds according to their allegedemotional state.

Miltos Manetas is a Greek artist, who started his career quiteearly by painting technological components and later integratednew media into his practice. [70] Later, he founded ’Neen‘, anInternet­based art movement (2000) and introduced the firstInternet Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2009).

In 1998, many significant events took place regarding thedevelopment of New Media art in Greece. The Foundation of theHellenic World invited the Greek researcher and artist MariaRoussou [71] to set up the Virtual Reality Department foreducational purposes. The following year, the Foundation of theHellenic World presented an exhibition featuring cutting edgetechnology and VR projection systems, for the first time inGreece. In the meantime, in 1998, Maria Roussou was invited byManthos Santorineos to join his team as a consultant atFournos Centre for Art and Technology, which created andhosted the First Greek Festival for Art and Technology in thesame year. Among the Greek artists and scientists oftechnological art, Maria Roussou was already known throughthe Internet for her collaboration with Antonio Muntadas on thelegendary Internet artwork “Fileroom” [72] on the subject ofcensorship. She was also known for her award at the ArsElectronica Festival in 1998 with her work “Mitologies” [73],which belongs to the permanent collection of the Ars ElectronicaCentre. [74]

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[47] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_access#History

[48] «Οι ανατροπές της Τεχνολογίας», Anna Hatziyiannakihttp://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathglobal_1_06/02/2005_1283729 (Accessedon: 06/08/2012)

[49] Media and Communication Department, University of Athens:http://www2.media.uoa.gr/main/gr/index_gr.html (πρόσβαση 7/8/12)

[50] leana Tounta Contemporary Art Centre: http://www.art­tounta.gr/ (Accessed on: 13/08/2012)

[51] Eugenides Foundation: http://www.eugenfound.edu.gr/ (Accessed on:14/08/2012)

[52] Makis Faros: http://www.myspace.com/makisfaros (Accessed on:07/08/2012)

[53] «Makis Faros ­ About sound and other suspicious things» http://fixit­emst.blogspot.gr/2008/03/blog­post_14.html (Accessed on: 29/07/2012)

[54] Takis Zerdevas: http://www.zerdevas.gr/ (Accessed on: 29/07/2012)

[55] Contemporary Greek Art Institute: http://www.iset.gr/ (Accessed on:29/07/2012)

[56] Dimitris Skoufis (1953­2007), Co – Founderof www.artopos.org, “Copyright Blues”http://www.artopos.org/issues/works/copy1blues­gr.html (Accessed on:27/07/2012)

[57] Greek State Museum:http://www.greekstatemuseum.com/kmst/index.html(Accessed on:10/08/2012)

[58] Foundation of the Hellenic World: http://www.ime.gr/fhw/ (Accessed on:17/07/2012)

[59] Vassilis Vlastaras:https://sites.google.com/site/vassilisvlastaras/home/site­specific­installation­and­performance (Accessed on: 29/07/2012)

[60] Athens School of Fine Arts:http://www.asfa.gr/greek/index.html (Accessed on: 17/07/2012)

[61] Technopolis, Athens: http://www.technopolis­athens.com/web/guest/home (Accessed on: 17/07/2012)

[62] Nikos Navridis: http://www.e­flux.com/announcements/nikos­navridis/http://youtu.be/4s3V_rNyUvo , http://youtu.be/FWT6xPooXqo (Accessed on:29/07/2012)

[63] Giorgos Gyparakis, «Luna Deducere”http://www.gyparakis.com/en/projects/lunadeducere1.jpg,http://www.gyparakis.com/ (Accessed on: 29/07/2012)

[64] Costis Triantafyllou: http://www.costis.gr/ (Accessed on: 29/07/2012)

[65] «Κεραυνοί», Costis Triantafyllou:http://www.artopos.org/artists/cards/costis­en.html (Accessed on:29/07/2012)

[66] Andreas Angelidakis: http://www.angelidakis.com/,http://andreasangelidakis.blogspot.gr/ (Accessed on: 31/07/2012)

[67] Angelo Plessas, http://www.angeloplessas.com/ (Accessed on:31/07/2012)

[68] Angelo Plessas «Me Looking at You»: http://melookingatyou.com/(Accessed on: 31/07/2012)

[69] Alexandros Psychoulis: http://psychoulis.blogspot.gr/ (Accessed on:03/08/2012)

[70] Miltos Manetas: http://www.saatchi­gallery.co.uk/artists/miltos_manetas.htm (Accessed on: 28/07/2012)

[71] Maria Roussos: http://www.makebelieve.gr/mr/www/index2.html(Accessed on: 17/07/2012)

[72] “Fileroom”: http://www.thefileroom.org/ (Accessed on: 17/07/2012)

[73] “Mitologies” http://90.146.8.18/en/archives/center_projekt_ausgabe.asp?iProjectID=11861 (Accessed on: 17/07/2012)

[74] Ars Electronica Center: http://www.aec.at/news/en/ (πρόσβαση 17/7/12)