In our quest to understand scientific advances, we seek to understand ourselves. Employing Carl Sagan's insight as a departure point, we see that art is one of the paths for humanization and that the links between science (technology) and art are increasingly narrow. One of the artists who best works within the realm known as “art and technology” is Eduardo Kac. This essay explores Kac's early artworks, starting with “holopoems” and arriving at “telepresence art”, and especially his texts. We see a complete artist-theorist, with an unrivaled knowledge of electronic art and literature, in part because his theorizing emerges from having actively participated in the creation of the events he refers to. Of special interest is Kac's book Light & letter: essays in art, literature, and communication, which collects his writings of the 1980s. This is a fundamental work and mandatory reference for the study of the experimental art and literature of the period.
science; technology; art; Eduardo Kac; Light & letter; cyber art
