Tate Modern’s Electric Dreams Decodes The History of Digital Art

From buff cats heroically rescuing helpless kittens to reimagining UK cities as humanoid snacks, today’s social media doom-scrolling is flooded with absurd, AI-generated videos. Easy to consume, hypnotically bizarre, and mind-numbingly addictive, these clips blend surreal humour with algorithmic efficiency, capturing attention in an endless loop of strange entertainment. The digital equivalent of junk food—cheap, accessible, and designed for instant gratification—these low-brow creations are emblematic of the ways technology is shaping today’s digital art.

Their ubiquity raises questions about the evolving relationship between creativity and technology. With AI's role in creative fields from art to fashion being hotly debated, never has it been more important to understand the complex relationship between the two fields. In the first exhibition of its kind, Tate Modern, in partnership with Gucci, presents Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet, exploring the optimism and anxieties that define this relationship, and the technological pioneers who pushed the boundaries of art long before AI entered the conversation.

The latest chapter in Gucci’s year-long partnership with Tate Modern—which began with the Cruise 2025 show in May—Electric Dreams takes audiences on an immersive journey into the history of digital and kinetic art. Highlighting the visionary artists and collectives who harnessed machines to push creative boundaries from the 1950s to the 1990s, the exhibition explores how technology became a powerful tool for artistic innovation long before the digital age we know today. As the main sponsor Gucci's role in bringing the exhibition to life solidifies its role as a leading force in fostering global conversations around creativity and innovation, while also providing curator Val Ravaglia with the opportunity to present her in-depth research, bringing together groundbreaking works that illuminate the rich, dynamic history of digital art.

The exhibition is structured around several thematic group rooms, each dedicated to a different wave of technological experimentation. Among the highlights is the work of ZERO, a German-based group founded by Heinz Mack and Otto Piene in the 1950s, who, alongside their contemporaries, pushed the boundaries of abstraction and perception. These early pioneers of light and movement set the stage for later explorations in kinetic art, which are prominently featured here, such as the mesmerising geometric structures and optical effects of Aleksandar Srnec and Julio Le Parc. These works invite visitors to reconsider the way we perceive space, light, and motion—reminding us that the digital revolution was as much about expanding the limits of the human senses as it was about technological advancement.

Equally compelling is the exhibition’s exploration of the New Tendencies movement, which cemented Zagreb as a hub for kinetic and digital art during the 1960s. Works by members of the Arte Programmata group from Italy, including Marina Apollonio and Grazia Varisco, showcase how art was being created with an increasingly sophisticated understanding of cybernetics, information theory, and computation. These artists were not just responding to technology—they were engaging with it as a partner, working at the intersection of creativity and mathematics to produce works that were both visually striking and intellectually rigorous.

One of the standout sections of the show takes visitors to the Cybernetic Serendipity exhibition held at the ICA in London in 1968. This pivotal exhibition introduced many to the idea of art-making machines, with works by US artist Harold Cohen, whose 1979 painting created by his software AARON, serves as a precursor to the AI-driven art that is so prevalent today. AARON’s early use of algorithms to generate art is a fascinating link to the ongoing conversation about AI’s role in creativity—a theme that resonates throughout the exhibition.

As Electric Dreams progresses, it offers a thrilling look at the evolution of digital art in the 1980s and 1990s. The inclusion of US artist Rebecca Allen’s pioneering motion capture and 3D modelling techniques in the 1980s is a testament to the ground-breaking work being done in the early days of digital art. Equally captivating is Brazilian artist Eduardo Kac’s text poems produced on Minitel machines, a precursor to the networked art that would come to define the internet age. Samia Halaby’s kinetic paintings, created on an Amiga 1000 after teaching herself how to code, and Suzanne Treister’s haunting Fictional Videogame Stills from the 1990s, offer a glimpse into the prescient visions of art’s digital future.

The exhibition culminates in a breathtaking exploration of virtual reality, the digital frontier that paved the way for immersive technologies today. Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss’s Liquid Views (1992) allows visitors to engage with their own digital reflections, manipulating their images within an interactive, touch-sensitive water pool. Meanwhile, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun’s Inherent Rights, Vision Rights (1992), a virtual environment simulating mystical visions, brings a powerful Indigenous perspective to the virtual realm. This final section highlights how virtual reality has been not just a tool for artistic innovation but a space for exploring new forms of human experience, consciousness, and connection.

Electric Dreams at Tate Modern is a celebration of the pioneers who shaped the intersection of art and technology. By tracing their visionary work from the 1950s to the early 1990s, the exhibition offers a compelling narrative about how artists have always been at the forefront of technological experimentation, using new tools to expand the boundaries of human creativity. With technology shaping creative fields more so than ever, Electric Dreams is a must-see for anyone looking to grapple with our ever-evolving relationship with technology. Engaging, immersive, and thought-provoking, Electric Dreams is not only informative but a visually captivating experience.