From abstract art to digital abstraction – making the invisible visible
Mindscapes, by Fernando Velázquez
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35699/2238-2046.2026.60140Keywords:
abstract art, digital arts, digital abstraction, Fernando Velázquez, MindscapesAbstract
This paper investigates how the series Mindscapes (2011-2012), by artist Fernando
Velázquez, critically updates the tradition of modernist abstraction within the context of
contemporary digital art. The central research problem is to understand how spiritual
abstraction – characteristic of the works of Kandinsky, Kupka, and Malevich – is transformed into algorithmic and relational visuality in today’s information environment.
The analysis adopts a qualitative and interpretative approach, grounded in studies of
synesthesia, technesthesia, computational art, and glitch aesthetics. Through concepts
such as data subjectivity, digital landscape, and image-as-process, it is argued that Velázquez’s work does not represent the invisible, but renders it experiencable via interactive systems that connect sensors, algorithms, and viewer participation. Thus, Mindscapes proposes a sensorial and cognitive visuality, in which abstraction operates as an interface between body, code, and perception in the digital age.
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