The ARTeFACTo International Conference arises from the concur- rence of wills between two parties – Artech International and CIAC – of creating an international event that brought together not only the most current reflections on the universe of new media art, but also the objects of study. Art made from digital resources or from the junction with new technologies has taken many different names and formats over the past 50 years. In 1992, Anne Cauquelin com- pleted her book Contemporary Art – An introduction, where she pre- sented the reader with a new possible form of art – Technological Art. When we think that the relationship between art and technolo- gy started in 1952, with an electronic music concert held at MOMA, and that in the 60s we witness remarkable events which contributed to the consolidation of this relationship, it seems rather strange that we are being “introduced” a new form of art only in 1992. Indeed, the relationship between the arts and technologies has developed somewhat outside the official history of the arts, through festivals such as Ars Eletronica and the emergence of specific galleries and/ or museums, back in the 80s. In general, that relationship, as fruitful as it has been and continues to be, has generated a certain amoun of distrust, such as photography or cinema did in their own time. It was necessary for artists to take the lead, to experiment with the new media and to disrupt the logic of functional and functionalist discourse, inherent to machines. In the same way that contempo- rary arts have expanded in the most varied directions, in contem- porary times, the arts that use technologies as a tool, medium or de- vice for their creations, assume different forms, more or less virtual, more or less interactive, but always with the intention of provoking in the spectator a reaction that encourages him to think about him- self, about his body and his role in the world that quickly trans- forms, expands and contracts, a world that dissolves into bits and algorithms. ARTeFACTo2020 brings us a series of experiences from and in the arts field, as well as a set of reflections on artistic work pierced by machines. The Latin word artefactu, which meant ‘made with art’ and which later acquired the meaning of ‘something pro- duced mechanically’, implies in itself the idea of a fusion between a hand and an abstraction, a hand that acts on the materials and that articulates concepts and shapes. And it is on this action and on the discussion it generates that ARTeFACTo2020 lies its focus. This in a time when, more than ever, we need to rethink the relationships we establish with technology and the role it plays in our everyday lives, mediated by the thousands of screens that surround us.