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Computer art

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: computer art
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Manipulation of computer-generated images (pictures, designs, scenery, portraits, etc.) as part of a purposeful creative process. Specialized software is used together with interactive devices such as digital cameras, optical scanners, styli, and electronic tablets. Because graphic images require large programs, the computers used in such work are generally among the fastest and most powerful available. Computer art has wide applications in advertising, publishing, and film.

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Art Encyclopedia: Computer art
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Term formerly used to describe any work of art in which a computer was used to make either the work itself or the decisions that determined its form. Computers became so widely used, however, that in the late 20th century the term was applied mainly to work that emphasized the computer's role. Such calculating tools as the abacus have existed for millennia, and artists have frequently invented mathematical systems to help them to make pictures. The GOLDEN SECTION and Alberti's formulae for rendering perspective were devices that aspired to fuse realism with idealism in art, while Leonardo da Vinci devoted much time to applying mathematical principles to image-making. After centuries of speculations by writers, and following experiments in the 19th century, computers began their exponential development in the aftermath of World War II, when new weapon-guidance systems were adapted for peaceful applications, and the term 'cybernetics' was given currency by Norbert Wiener. Artists exploited computers' ability to execute mathematical formulations or 'algorithms' from 1950, when Ben F. Laposky (b 1930) used an analogue computer to generate electronic images on an oscilloscope. Once it was possible to link computers to printers, programmers often made 'doodles' between their official tasks. From the early 1960s artists began to take this activity more seriously and quickly discovered that many formal decisions could be left to the computer, with results that were particularly valued for their unpredictability. From the mid-1970s the painter Harold Cohen (b 1928) developed a sophisticated programme, AARON, which generated drawings that the artist then completed as coloured paintings. Although the computer became capable of that task as well, Cohen continued to hand-colour computer-generated images (e.g. Socrates' Garden, 1984; Pittsburgh, PA, Buhl Sci. Cent.; see fig.).

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Wikipedia: Computer art
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Joseph Nechvatal 2004 Orgiastic abattOir
Wires by Perry Welman 2007

Computer art is any art in which computers played a role in production or display of the artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation, video, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, videogame, web site, algorithm, performance or gallery installation. Many traditional disciplines are now integrating digital technologies and, as a result, the lines between traditional works of art and new media works created using computers has been blurred. For instance, an artist may combine traditional painting with algorithm art and other digital techniques. As a result, defining computer art by its end product can thus be difficult. Computer art is by its nature evolutionary since changes in technology and software directly affect what is possible. Notable artists in this vein include James Faure Walker, Manfred Mohr, Ronald Davis, Joseph Nechvatal, Matthias Groebel, George Grie, Olga Kisseleva, John Lansdown and Perry Welman.

Contents

History

Picture by drawing machine 1, Desmond Paul Henry, c.1960s

By the mid-1960s, most individuals involved in the creation of computer art were in fact engineers and scientists because they had access to the only computing resources available at university scientific research labs. Many artists tentatively began to explore the emerging computing technology for use as a creative tool. In the summer of 1962, Dr. A. Michael Noll programmed a digital computer at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey to generate visual patterns solely for artistic purposes .[1] His later computer-generated patterns simulated paintings by Piet Mondrian and Bridget Riley and become classics. [2] Noll also used the patterns to investigate aesthetic preferences in the mid 1960s.

Computer art dates back to at least 1960, with the invention of the Henry Drawing Machine by Desmond Paul Henry. His work was shown at the Reid Gallery in London in 1962, after his machine-generated art won him the privilege of a one-man exhibition. In 1963 Joan Shogren of San Jose State University wrote a computer program based on artistic principles, resulting in an early public showing of computer art in San Jose, California on May 6, 1963. [3]

The first two exhibitions of computer art were held in 1965- Computer-Generated Pictures, April 1965, at the Howard Wise Gallery in New York, and Generative Computergrafik, February 1965, at the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany. The Stuttgart exhibit featured work by Georg Nees; the New York exhibit featured work by Bela Julesz and A. Michael Noll. Note the names of these expositions, not mentioning the word 'art', because these 'generated pictures' were not yet seen as such. A third exhibition was put up in November 1965 at Galerie Wendelin Niedlich in Stuttgart, Germany, showing works by Frieder Nake and Georg Nees.

In 1968, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London hosted one of the most influential early exhibitions of computer art- Cybernetic Serendipity. The exhibition included many of whom often regarded as the first true digital artists, Nam June Paik, Frieder Nake, Leslie Mezei, Georg Nees, A. Michael Noll, John Whitney, and Charles Csuri.[4]. One year later, the Computer Arts Society was founded, also in London.[5]

At the time of the opening of Cybernetic Serendipity, in August 1968, a symposium was held in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, under the title "Computers and visual research". It took up the European artists movement of New Tendencies that had led to three exhibitions (in 1961, 63, and 65) in Zagreb of concrete, kinetic, and constructive art as well as op art and conceptual art. New Tendencies changed its name to "Tendencies" and continued with more symposia, exhibitions, a competition, and an international journal (bit international) until 1973.

Katherine Nash and Richard Williams published Computer Program for Artists: ART 1 in 1970.[6]

Xerox Corporation’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) designed the first Graphical User Interface (GUI) in the 1970s. The first Macintosh computer is released in 1984, since then the GUI became popular. Many graphic designers quickly accepted its capacity as a creative tool.

Output devices

The early technology restricted the output and print results. Early machines used pen-and-ink plotters to produce basic hard copy. In 1970s, the dot matrix printer much like a typewriter is used to reproduce varied fonts and arbitrary graphics. The first animations were created by plotting all still frames of the movie sequentially on a stack of paper, with the motion transferring to 16-mm film and projected. During 1970s and 1980s, dot matrix printers produced most of the visual output while microfilm plotter produced most of the early animation. [2]

Until 1976, the inkjet printer was invented with the use of personal computers. Inkjet printer is now the cheapest and most versatile option of everyday digital color output. RasterImage Processing (RIP) built into the printer or supplied as a software package for your computer is required to achieve the beset quality output. Basic inkjet devices don't have a RIP, thus relying on the graphic software to rasterize images. Laser printer, though more expensive than inkjets, is another affordable output device. [7]

Graphic software

Newskool ASCII Screenshot
Sprial Sphere and Julia, Detail, a computer-generated image programmed by visual artist Robert W. McGregor using only POV-Ray 3.6 and its built-in scene description language.

Adobe Systems, founded in 1982, developed the PostScript language and digital fonts, making drawing painting and image manipulation software popular. Adobe Illustrator, a vector drawing program based on the Bezier curve introduced in 1987 and Adobe Photoshop, written by brothers Thomas and John Knoll in 1990 were developed for use on MacIntosh computers.[8] and compiled for DOS/Windows platforms by 1993 You can also create some useful tools by using PHP GD. For example, you can create a ASCII art convertor, drop image effect, mirror effect and other useful effects.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ “The Beginnings of Computer Art in the United States: A Memoir,” Leonardo, Vol. 27, No. 1, (1994), pp. 39-44.
  2. ^ a b Dietrich, Frank (1986). "Visual Intelligence: The First Decade of Computer Art" (PDF). pp. 159-169. Leonardo. http://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/PDFs/dietrich-leonardo.pdf. Retrieved 2008-04-28. 
  3. ^ Raimes, Jonathan. (2006 ) The Digital Canvas, Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-9236-1
  4. ^ Raimes, Jonathan. (2006 ) The Digital Canvas, Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-9236-1
  5. ^ Page, No. 1, April 1969, p2.
  6. ^ Nash, Katherine; Richard H. Williams (October 1970). "Computer Program for Artists: ART I". Leonardo, Pergamon Press (via JSTOR) 3 (4): 439–442. doi:10.2307/1572264. 
  7. ^ Raimes, Jonathan. (2006 ) The Digital Canvas, Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-9236-1
  8. ^ Wands, Bruce. (2006) Art of the Digital Age, Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-23817-0

Congress, exhibitions and promotion

References

  1. ^ “The Beginnings of Computer Art in the United States: A Memoir,” Leonardo, Vol. 27, No. 1, (1994), pp. 39-44.
  2. ^ a b Dietrich, Frank (1986). "Visual Intelligence: The First Decade of Computer Art" (PDF). pp. 159-169. Leonardo. http://design.osu.edu/carlson/history/PDFs/dietrich-leonardo.pdf. Retrieved 2008-04-28. 
  3. ^ Raimes, Jonathan. (2006 ) The Digital Canvas, Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-9236-1
  4. ^ Raimes, Jonathan. (2006 ) The Digital Canvas, Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-9236-1
  5. ^ Page, No. 1, April 1969, p2.
  6. ^ Nash, Katherine; Richard H. Williams (October 1970). "Computer Program for Artists: ART I". Leonardo, Pergamon Press (via JSTOR) 3 (4): 439–442. doi:10.2307/1572264. 
  7. ^ Raimes, Jonathan. (2006 ) The Digital Canvas, Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-9236-1
  8. ^ Wands, Bruce. (2006) Art of the Digital Age, Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-23817-0

Further reading

External links

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