Real hyperreal virtual: echoes of cyberpunk in «Decoder» magazine

Abstract

The current essay aims to analyze the Italian cyberpunk experience through the lens of the «Decoder» magazine proposals (1987-1998), delving, in the second part, into the comic by Prof. Bad Trip included into the illustrated column Il Decoder dei piccoli. Giving space to music and performative arts, but also radical critics, and recovering a whole tradition of youth protests from the previous decades, the magazine contributed to the genre definition. This happened thanks to the graphic design, which enlightened the arrival of dystopian worlds, and thanks to a precise thinking direction, which was clear in essays such as Rete Informatica Alternativa [Alternative informatical web] by Raf "Valvola" Scelsi. In particular, we discuss some creative passages that drove the magazine as a point of reference for cyberpunk and international hacktivism. The editorial board participated in the definition of new virtual communities: the group developed its own BBS, and it was part of the project Piazza Virtuale by Van Gogh Tv, on the occasion of documenta IX in 1992 in Kassel.