Minitel works by Eduardo Kac (1985-1986)
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The minitel system allows users to log on with a remote terminal
and
access sequences of pages through regular phone lines. This
minitel network
was a precursor to today's Internet and functioned very much
like it, with
sites containing information about countless subjects. It also
allowed
users to send messages to one another (email). Different
countries, such
as UK, France, Japan, Canada, USA and Brazil, implemented
different versions
of the minitel concept under their own names. The UK called it
Prestel.
The Brazilian system, which was purchased from France, was
dubbed videotexto. In Canada it was known as Telidon.
In the USA, the network was named Videotex.
Under the name "Minitel", France implemented a comprehensive
network that was widely used throughout the 1980s. In 1984
Minitel terminals
were distributed to subscribers free of charge, which helped to
further
popularize the network. From 1983 to 1994 (the year of the
Internet boom),
use of the Minitel grew continuously. In 1995 there were 7
million Minitel
terminals in France. It was also possible to access the Minitel
through the web. France discontinued the minitel service in
2012.
The online works listed below were created by Eduardo Kac
between 1985 and
1986 for the Brazilian network (which was the same system as
the French "Minitel").
Further reading on
the minitel network
Reabracadabra, 1985 - Minitel animated poem shown in 1985
in the
group exhibition Arte On-Line, a national online art gallery
presented
by Companhia Telefônica de São Paulo. Please click here
to see stills. See Reabracadabra here.
Tesão, 1985/86 - Minitel animated poem shown online in the
group exhibition Brazil High-Tech (1986), a national online art
gallery organized by Eduardo Kac and Flavio Ferraz and presented
by Companhia Telefônica de São Paulo (in Portuguese). Please click
here to see stills.
See Tesão here.
Recaos, 1986 - Minitel animated poem shown in the group
exhibition
Brazil High-Tech (1986), a national online art gallery organized
by
Eduardo Kac and Flavio Ferraz and presented by Companhia
Telefônica
de São Paulo (in Portuguese). Please click here
to see a still. See Recaos here.
D/eu/s, 1986 - Minitel animated poem shown in the group
exhibition
Brazil High-Tech (1986), a national online art gallery organized
by
Eduardo Kac and Flavio Ferraz and presented by Companhia
Telefônica
de São Paulo (in Portuguese). Please click here
to see a still. See D/eu/s here.
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