Eduardo Pla: The creation of art by means of the computer.
by Jorge Glusberg The works by the Argentine artist Eduardo Pla (born in 1952, and living in Italy since 1980) not only highlight the countless possibilities of digital art but also, and consequently, the validity and transcendence of this contemporary means of aesthetic creation. It is a well-known fact that computer technology is vital in the production of art. It allows the creation of new forms of art, influencing both the static/spatial expressions, such as painting, sculpture, photography and drawing, and the dynamic/temporal ones, such as kinetic art, films and video. Therefore, the computer is both an autonomous means of creation and a dependent system used to perfect some aspects of the work of art and achieve variations on a drawing or a painting. Although the applications of computer technology have also influenced music and dance, films, television, books and plays, design and architecture, the only “infoart” (or digital art) worthy of its name, is that art which is achieved by means of a computer. Art and technology are inextricably linked, and Eduardo Pla's work bases itself on this concept. His expertise includes radio, film and video making, and since his arrival in Milan in 1985, the artist has also become involved in infoart. In Buenos Aires Pla took courses on architecture and design, audiovisual communication and stage direction; in Los Angeles, film-making, digital art, computer graphics and animation, and in Milan, where he set up his own studio in 1999, multimedia and virtual reality. Pla's work, exhibited in America, Europe and Asia, received five international awards: among others, the Award of Excellence in Computer Art in New York in 1987. His creations delve deeply into technology, producing two and three-dimensional high-resolution work by means of pictures, slides, and videos. A notable synthesis of Pla´s work was shown at the "New Worlds" exhibition, with his Installations III, organized by me at the Recoleta Cultural Center in the spring of 1994.  Another memorable show was his "Ten Years of Virtual Art", exhibited at the Palais de Glace in Buenos Aires. One of the goals of the digital artist is the development of another creative self, capable of arousing in him aesthetic experiences. The artist will thus attempt to minimize the feeling of alienation present in today´s society, exploring and establishing new bonds among people. Rimbaud defined the seer, the poet, with these words: "I is another". Perhaps information technology is destined to materialize the writer´s bold concept. At any rate, the audacious and extraordinary works of Eduardo Pla have already begun their task. By Jorge Glusberg, Director of the National Museum of Fine Arts