A Critical History of Media Art in the Netherlands. Platforms, Policies, Technologies. Book Review Sanneke Huisman, Marga van Mechelen (ed.), Mind Design, Niels Schrader, Martijn de Heer (graphic designers), Jap Sam Books, 2019, 367 pp., ISBN: 978-94-92852-14-4

Abstract

In November 2019, the Dutch publishing house JAP SAM Books (Prinsenbeek) released the anthology A Critical History of Media Art in the Netherlands. Platforms, Policies, Technologies, edited by Sanneke Huisman and Marga van Mechelen. The 380-page publication brings together 19 essays by 24 authors who describe the artworks and activities of almost 900 artists, collectives, actors, institutions and festivals that have been of crucially important for media art in the Netherlands since the mid-1980s. The richly illustrated compendium presents a comprehensive, carefully researched and very readable overview of the Dutch media art scene of the time. The kaleidoscopic view brings together the different perspectives and historical developments in a carefully structured way, thus providing a vivid insight.