This text states that the exhibition, Arte de Sistemas [Systems Art] (Buenos Aires, Museo de Arte Moderno, July 1971), contains elements that would “para entretener —o escandalizar— al público […] sirve para medir […] no solo una posición con respecto a las últimas tendencias de las artes otrora plásticas, sino también la validez general de ciertos planteos” [entertain —or scandalize—the public, [. . . and] also serve to delineate a position with respect to the latest art trends and the general validity of certain approaches]. From this perspective, the author describes and analyzes various works on exhibition and concludes that although there are some outstanding works, many are banal and frivolous, created by artists who were barely in touch with the arts. Lastly he points out that although he cannot deny the development of contemporary art, neither can he uncritically accept “confundiendo creación artística con mera información” [the confusion of artistic creation with mere information].

Arte de sistemas was the term Jorge Glusberg coined for the different artistic approaches that were developed by the Centro de Arte y Comunicación [CayC]. Within this concept, works are understood as sistemas de signos [systems of symbols] that respond to different codes: political, ecological, conceptual, and cybernetic, among others. Beyond the diverse meanings of each work, they all uphold the nature of the system at the level of production, the possibility of a serialization or multiplication of these works, and the significance of the creative process, which was emphasized over the finished product. The Centro de Estudios de Arte y Comunicación (CEAC) was created in 1968. Shortly after its first public exhibition at the Galería Bonino Arte (August–September 1969), it changed its name to the Centro de Arte y Comunicación (CAyC). Led by director and theoretician Jorge Glusberg, the CAyC sponsored a number of different artists over time. The Grupo de los Trece [Group of Thirteen] was founded in 1971 and was comprised of Jacques Bedel, Luis {Fernando] Benedit (1933-2011), Gregorio Dujovny, Carlos Ginzburg, Víctor Grippo, Jorge González Mir, Vicente Marotta, Luis Pazos, Alfredo Portillos, Juan Carlos Romero, Julio Teich, Horacio Zabala, Alberto Pellegrino, and Jorge Glusberg. Later, some of the artists left the group and were replaced by new members. By 1975 the Grupo CAyC included Bedel, Benedit, Grippo, Portillos, and Glusberg.