Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 3.4
Vera Molnar.
Left
:
Interruptions
, 1968/69.
Right
:
25 Squares
, 1991 (with permission of
the artist)
ilar in style to what many of the concrete artists had also done. The switchover
to the computer gave her the opportunity to do more systematic research. (“Visual
research” was a term of the time. The avantgarde loved it as a wonderful shield
against the permanent question of “art”. Josef Albers and others from the Bauhaus
were early users of the word.)
The
Interruptions
of Fig.
3.4
happen in the open spaces of a square area that is
densely covered by oblique strokes. They build a complex pattern, a texture whose
algorithmic generation, simple as it must be, is not easy to identify. The open areas
appear as surprise. The great experiment experienced by pioneers of the mid-1960s
shows in Molnar's piece: what will happen visually if I force the computer to obey a
simple set of rules that I invent? How much complexity can I generate out of almost
trivial descriptions?
3.3.2 Charles Csuri
Our second artist who took to the computer is Charles Csuri. He is a counter exam-
ple to the “only mathematicians” predicament. Among the few professional artists
who became early computer users, Csuri was probably the first. He had come to
Ohio State University in Columbus from the New York art scene. His entry into the
computer art world was marked by a series of exceptional pieces, among them
Sine
Curve Man
(Fig.
3.5
,left),
Random War
, and the short animated film
Hummingbird
(for more on Csuri and his art, see Glowski
2006
).
Sine Curve Man
won him the first prize of the
Computer Art Contest
in 1967.
Ed Berkeley's magazine,
Computers and Automation
(later renamed to
Computers
and People
), had started this yearly contest. It was won in 1965 by A. Michael Noll,
