Bits of the Planet
February 1, 2024–February 1, 2025
Waldemar Cordeiro: Bits of the Planet is an experimental online platform that explores the life and work of Waldemar Cordeiro, a prominent Brazilian post-war artist and theorist. The platform incorporates a rich array of materials from Cordeiro’s archive in order to delve into his legacy, showcasing his Concrete painting, landscape architecture, computer art, and prescient theories on “arteônica”—computational art in the face of global challenges.
Waldemar Cordeiro was born in Rome in 1925 and moved to Brazil in 1946, where his work moved from figuration to geometric art and landscape architecture. His innovative gardens mirrored the geometric forms of his concrete paintings, rejecting imitations of “untouched nature.” In the 1960s, influenced by information theory and mass media, Cordeiro began manipulating pop cultural objects and mass media images. Between 1968 and 1973 Cordeiro created pioneering computer art on an IBM 360/44.
Waldemar Cordeiro: Bits of the Planet brings Cordeiro’s visionary legacy into the digital realm, offering algorithmically generative ways to engage with the artist’s work. Cordeiro’s insights into the political and cultural potentials of decentralized communication and cybernetics resonate strongly today. As he foresaw 50 years ago, “centers, as information’s physical site or as a place in which things are exchanged, are gradually losing their function.” Bits of the Planet reflects this reality, making Cordeiro’s work globally accessible, offering a prophetic perspective on the promise and threats of digital technology and the climate crisis.
The project was led by Natalia Brizuela (curator), Ian Alan Paul (curator, platform designer, programmer) and Rachel Price (curator) with the research assistance of Lia Carreira and Larissa Guimarães.
All queries can be sent to: bitsoftheplanet [at] gmail.com.