Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 9: AI Era (2010s)
2016
Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966) at Whitechapel Gallery, London

This major exhibition of digital art featured over 100 works exploring the impact of computer and Internet technologies on art. The title, derived from video art pioneer Nam June Paik’s eponymous 1974 groundbreaking report, which underscored the transformative potential of global connectivity through technology and introduced the world to the term “electronic superhighway.” Curated in reverse chronological order, the exhibition started with contemporary works and ended with the 1966 Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) with Bell Laboratories engineers. Showcasing a variety of media, it included artists like Cory Arcangel, Vera Molnár, Hito Steyerl, Trevor Paglen, Lynn Hershman Leeson and Ulla Wiggen, reflecting five decades of visual culture.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
Cory Arcangel, Hito Steyerl, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Nam June Paik, Trevor Paglen, Ulla Wiggen, Vera Molnár
Movements
digital art, post internet
Filed under
- Ideas
- curation, digital art, internet culture, post internet
- People
- Cory Arcangel, Hito Steyerl, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Nam June Paik, Trevor Paglen, Ulla Wiggen, Vera Molnár
- Works
- Art and Technology, Electronic Superhighway
- Organisations
- Bell Labs, Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), Whitechapel Gallery
- Places
- London
Echoes across time
- 1973 · France Hosts International Computer Art Events
- 1979 · Cybernetic Symbiosis, Berkeley: Lawrence Hall of Science
- 1969 · Computerkunst - On the Eve of Tomorrow Exhibition in Hanover
Le Random editorials
- Val Ravaglia on Electric Dreams, Peter Bauman, October 17, 2024
- Hito Steyerl on How It Uses Us, Peter Bauman, July 21, 2025
- Trevor Paglen on Technological Points of View, Peter Bauman, October 7, 2024
Le Random podcast
- Dr. Nancy Perloff on Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) — listen with transcript on Le Random (12 Sep 2024, 48 min). Title mentions: Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.). Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Protocol Art & Blockchain Formalism—Mitchell F Chan, Ania Catherine, Dejha Ti, matto & maltefr — listen with transcript on Le Random (04 Mar 2025, 64 min). Transcript mentions Electronic Superhighway. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- "Electric Op" in Conversation—Cory Arcangel, Joan Heemskerk, Tali Hinkis & Rafael Lozano-Hemmer — listen with transcript on Le Random (22 Sep 2024, 53 min). Featuring Cory Arcangel. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 9—AI Era (2010s) with Tyler Hobbs, Helena Sarin, Rhea Myers & Gene Kogan — listen with transcript on Le Random (30 Jul 2024, 51 min). Chapter 9’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify