CHAPTER 16: The Deep Meaning of Poetry: Eduardo Kac's Art of the Fundamental Processes

Eduardo Kac is a celebrated artist worldwide, with research that has crossed through many techniques and art forms. Recently he created Space Poetry and Art, with an artwork, Inner Telescope, specifically conceived for zero gravity, which was made in space. With his activity Kac has raised many nodal questions on the transformations of society and culture, in a constant creative relationship with the culture, technology and science of his time. In his research communication, intended as mutual information exchange, as a dialogue, as a participation, is a fundamental topic, as he points out in the enclosed interview. This aptitude makes Kac a perfect interpreter of the resources and contradictions of the contemporary, with a strong vision on how the present time can possibly develop and evolve into the future. His interest in the theory of communication, linguistics, semiotics and philosophy, as well as his knowledge of technologies and scientific disciplines, outline a complex personality of an artist, a researcher, a scholar and a theorist. The aim of this text is not that to retrace and recapitulate Kac's artistic activity, but to pinpoint some key elements, ideas and artworks which are nodal in his research and that can have an impact on culture.