History of Art

DIGITAL ART

* An artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as an essential part of the creative or presentation process.

* Completely made using a computer

Digitized Art

* A photo that is digitized

HISTORY OF DIGITAL ART

* 1950s

* Many artists and designers were working w/ mechanical devices and analogue computers

* Ben Laposky – artist of Oscillon 40 – 1952; one of the earliest works in the V&A’s; used an oscilloscope to manipulate electronic waves that appeared on the small fluorescent screen

* Oscilloscope – device for displaying the wave shape of an electric signal; commonly used for electrical testing

* 1960s

* Early 60s, computers were still in their infancy and access was very limited

* Some of the first people to use computers creatively were computer scientists or mathematicians

* Oscillon 520 – Ben Laposky (1960)

* Hommage à Paul Klee – Frieder Nake (1965); plotter drawing; one of the most complex algorithmic works of its day; inspiration from an oil painting by Paul Klee (Highroads and Byroads 1929)

Bell Laboratories

* New Jersey; was hugely influential in initiating and supporting the early American computer-art scene; was particularly influential in the development of early computer-generated animation

* In early 1960s, housed an early microfilm printer

* Edward Zajec used the equipment to make moving films.

* Ken Knowlton developed the programming language BELFIX- stands for Bell Flicks; bitmap

* Studies in Perception – 1967; also known as Nude; Leon Harmon and Ken Knowlton; 12 ft wide; work-place prank

* 1970s

* Early 1970s, the Slade School of Art, University of London, established “Experimental and Computing Department”

* Slade was one of the few institutions that attempted to fully integrate the use of computers in art into its teaching curriculum

* Paul Brown – studied at Slade (1977-79); developed a tile-based image generating system; “Untitled Computer Assisted...