Vladimir Bonacic

Vladimir Bonačić was born in 1938 in Novi Sad, then part of Yugoslavia. He studied nuclear electronics at the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, earning an MSc in 1964 and a PhD in 1967 focused on pattern recognition and hidden data structures. He completed postgraduate studies in London and Paris. He worked at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb, where his research focused on cybernetics, information processing, and models of perception. In the late 1960s, he began applying computer systems to visual research and later served as Head of the Institute’s Laboratory of Cybernetics. In 1980, he moved to Germany, continuing his work through applied projects in visual communication, including systems developed for live election coverage on German television.

Drawing on his research in pattern recognition and abstract algebra, he generated computer-based images and built interactive light objects that revealed how systems evolve over time. He designed custom hardware and software to create programmed sequences of light and sound, allowing viewers to influence tempo or progression without altering the underlying structure. These works often unfolded across extended durations, using repetition and change to make otherwise invisible processes perceptible through rhythm and interaction, with computation functioning as both method and medium.

Bonačić’s work was shown internationally through showcases focused on the intersection of art, science, and technology, including _New Tendencie_s exhibitions in Zagreb, the Paris Biennale, UNESCO in Paris, and the Tel Aviv Museum. He also brought computer-based systems into public space, creating large-scale light installations that transformed building façades into active visual fields governed by programmed logic. These projects positioned his work beyond the gallery, testing how computational systems could operate in shared environments. Bonačić passed away in 1999.