Neural is a magazine, started in Italy in 1993, and it is built on three main sectors: new media art, electronic music and hacktivism. The Neural website (neural.it) went online in 1997. Since the end of 2000 it has been updated daily, and since the end of 2002 there is a correspondent English edition. Actually Neural.it hosts more or less five thousand pages and, as far as I know, there are about six thousand web sites that link back to it. Neural.it is still produced in pure html with only a text editor and a photo-retouching tool.

When I started Neural.it I didn’t intend to build a community, but to serve an existing community with the most idealistic journalistic approach: connecting info and ideas to let people find inspiration, in order to help them develop their own projects and engage with others in a sort of crucial info-node, free for all. Once I was told that Neural is considered a work of art. I don’t know if it really is, but if I were an artist, this would be my most passionate project. I think of it as an infogallery, so it could be seen as my personal narrative of the new media culture’s evolution, formed by important chunks of information condensed in a limited space. I always try to compile every new update (and every new printed issue) in the hope that it will be the best I’ve ever done, and I think it is also important to invest huge amounts of time in research to constantly maintain quality of the work, with the aim of improving it. But one of the most valuable inputs for me is the readers’ feedback, which helps me to understand new needs and possible mutations. So the magazine’s editorial line is constantly changing (slightly). Suggestions and critiques are vital for the project, but critiques are the driving force that let me shape the Neural project in better forms. I think that one of the main characteristics of electronic culture is the rapid spread of powerful ideas. A good technical hack, such as an innovative use of sound or an original concept shown in a proper electronic artwork, are meaningful signals. These signals are ideas that have to be shared among the worldwide interested community, inducing participative developments.

The primary purpose of Neural is to share and critique these meaningful ideas that concern local and international groups of people. I’m interested in theories and striking practices that break with conventions and keep you thinking about what you’re doing, continuing to analyze it and further improve this decade-long effort.