Page 39 - Fundação MEO - Net Arte no Triângulo das Bermudas

was to activate artistic projects, some of which had remained
nearly unknown, on the verge of disappearance, or had never been
adapted to a physical exhibition space. Some digital art projects were
recovered from complete obscurity, while others – still available online
today – were given greater visibility.
The advantage of arriving so late to the study of net art in
Portugal is that it allows us to learn from the extensive research
conducted in other territories and cultural contexts, thereby gradually
addressing the gaps in our understanding of this field. The essay
“Networks of Care” by Annet Dekker, which the author generously
authorised for inclusion in this publication, presents a nuanced and
complex perspective on the role that we can and should play in the
preservation of digital art. Only a persistent and coherent policy of
digital art conservation, will make it possible to recover what can still
be saved and to begin historicising the development of computational
thinking in Portuguese society and its creative expressions. Beyond
Dekker’s text, as well as the contributions of Ponte & Rivero-Moreno
and the chronology they developed, this publication is structured
into two additional sections – one dedicated to the artistic projects
presented and another focusing on the documentation integrated into
the exhibition.
Without attempting to exhaust such a vast topic, the study
and exhibition Net Arte no Triângulo das Bermudas:
contributions to a reflection on art and the
Internet in Portugal offers an insight into the gradual
deepening of the relationship between art and the Internet in Portugal,
while also encouraging reflection on the current state of these rela-
tionships in the era of data, automation, and artificial intelligence.

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Sofia Ponte
Sofia Ponte