Did the Avant-Garde Become Materialized in New Media? Techno-Performance and Socialization

This contribution builds on Lev Manovich's thesis that avant-garde procedures were incorporated into the very operation of software, as the computer as a meta-medium completely transcodes the reality. The text examines the foundations of computer science in mathematical formalism and considers Turing's computing machine as a starting point for the generative aspect of computer art. The generative art-making was practiced also in the neo-avant-gardes. Data processing introduces into today's world a decoupling between understanding and agency that was once thought to require active thinking. Juri Lotman's idea of periphery-centre dynamic explains the shift of mechanical and (once) avant-garde procedures to the center of the globalized culture. At the same time, the image of a human is radically changing as she finds herself in a new homogeneous environment made of information: she becomes an inforg (Luciano Floridi) together with artificial and hybrid agents. Identity as informational integrity is discussed with the examples of performances and happenings of Srečo Dragan from the conceptualist period, when he collaborated with Nuša Dragan and the extended OHO group. The discussion touches upon the latest new media works by Srečo Dragan, where a multitude of interfaces mediates between the self-awareness (memory, declaration statements) and the body of the participant, and builds an archive of connections for a society established through technology. Dragan’s idea of socialization with art foregrounds a performative educational practice that interferes with the user's identity.