Computer art is any
artArt is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings...
in which
computerA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
s played a role in production or display of the artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation,
videoVideo is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.-History:...
,
CD-ROMCD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback, the 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data. CD-ROMs are popularly used to...
, DVD-ROM, videogame, web site,
algorithmIn mathematics, computing, linguistics, and related subjects, an algorithm is an effective method for solving a problem using a finite sequence of instructions. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and many other fields....
,
performanceA performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people behave in a particular way for another group of people . Sometimes the dividing line between performer and the audience may become blurred, as in the example of "participatory theatre" where audience...
or gallery installation. Many traditional disciplines are now integrating
digitalA digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
technologies and, as a result, the lines between traditional works of art and new media works created using computers has been blurred.
Computer art is any
artArt is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings...
in which
computerA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
s played a role in production or display of the artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation,
videoVideo is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.-History:...
,
CD-ROMCD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback, the 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data. CD-ROMs are popularly used to...
, DVD-ROM, videogame, web site,
algorithmIn mathematics, computing, linguistics, and related subjects, an algorithm is an effective method for solving a problem using a finite sequence of instructions. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and many other fields....
,
performanceA performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people behave in a particular way for another group of people . Sometimes the dividing line between performer and the audience may become blurred, as in the example of "participatory theatre" where audience...
or gallery installation. Many traditional disciplines are now integrating
digitalA digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
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
paintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
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 MohrManfred Mohr is a digital art pioneer .Mohr started his career as an action painter and jazz musician. He began using the computer because of his growing interest in creating algorithmic art. He lived in Barcelona in 1962 and in Paris between 1963 and 1983...
,
Ronald DavisRonald Davis , born 1937, is an American painter whose work is associated with Geometric abstraction, Abstract Illusionism, Lyrical Abstraction, Hard-edge painting, Shaped canvas painting, Color field painting, and 3D Computer Graphics...
,
Joseph NechvatalJoseph Nechvatal is a post-conceptual art digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom-created computer viruses.-Life and work:Joseph Nechvatal was born in Chicago...
, Matthias Groebel,
George GrieGeorge Grie is a Russian-Canadian artist.One of the first digital neo-surrealist artists, Grie is known for numerous 3D, 2D, and matte painting images...
,
Olga KisselevaOlga Kisseleva is a Russian artist. Olga Kisseleva works mainly in installation, science and media art. Her work employs various media, including video, immersive virtual reality, the Web, wireless technology, performance, large-scale art installations and interactive exhibitions.- Biography :As...
,
John LansdownRobert John Lansdown was a computer graphics pioneer, polymath and Professor Emeritus at Middlesex University Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts, which was re-named in his honour in 2000....
and Perry Welman.
History
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 1961, Dr.
A. Michael NollA. Michael Noll is professor emeritus at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. He has published over ninety professional papers, has been granted six patents, and is the author of eleven books on various aspects of telecommunications.-Career:From 1992 to...
, an early pioneer in the use of computers in the visual arts, spent nearly fifteen years performing research at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. His computer-generated patterns simulating paintings by
Piet MondrianPieter Cornelis "Piet" Mondriaan, after 1912 Mondrian , was a Dutch painter.He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism...
and
Bridget RileyBridget Louise Riley CH CBE is an English painter who is one of the foremost proponents of op art.-Early life:...
have become classics.
Computer art dates back to at least 1960, with the invention of the Henry Drawing Machine by
Desmond Paul HenryDr. Desmond Paul Henry , a Manchester University Lecturer and Reader in Philosophy , was also one of the first few British artists to experiment with machine-generated visual effects at the time of the emerging global Computer Art movement of the 1960s...
. 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 ShogrenIn 1963 Joan Shogren created a computer program that provided the computer with the basic artistic principles needed to create computer-generated art. The first public showing of computer art was held in San Jose, California at San Jose State University on May 6, 1963...
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.
The first two exhibitions of computer art, both 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- featured work by A. Michael Noll and Georg Nees, resp. 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 PaikNam June Paik was a Korean-born American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the first video artist...
, Frieder Nake, Leslie Mezei, Georg Nees, A. Michael Noll,
John WhitneyJohn Whitney, Sr. was an American animator, composer and inventor, widely considered to be one of the fathers of computer animation.-Life:...
, and
Charles CsuriCharles Csuri , aka Chuck Csuri, is a pioneer in the field of computer art and a former All American college football player.-Digital Art:...
.. One year later, the
Computer Arts SocietyThe Computer Arts Society was founded in 1968, in order to encourage the creative use of computers in the arts. The three founder members of the Society – Alan Sutcliffe, George Mallen and John Lansdown – had been involved with computing and its related concepts for some time...
was founded, also in London.
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 NashKatherine Elizabeth Nash was an American artist and sculptor best known for computer art and direct and arc welding. The Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota Department of Art's Regis Center for Art bears her name.-Family:...
and Richard Williams published
Computer Program for Artists: ART 1 in 1970.
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.
Until 1976, the
inkjet printerInkjet printers operate by propelling variably-sized droplets of liquid or molten material onto almost any sized page. They are the most common type of computer printer for the general consumer due to their low cost, high quality of output, capability of printing in different colors, and ease of...
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 printerA laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...
, though more expensive than inkjets, is another affordable output device.
Graphic software
Adobe SystemsAdobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company headquartered in San Jose, California, USA. The company has historically focused upon the creation of multimedia and creativity software products, with a more-recent foray towards rich Internet application software...
, founded in 1982, developed the
PostScriptPostScript is a dynamically typed concatenative programming language created by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in 1982. PostScript is best known for its use as a page description language in the electronic and desktop publishing areas....
language and digital fonts, making drawing painting and image manipulation software popular.
Adobe IllustratorAdobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Adobe Systems.The latest version, Illustrator CS4, is the fourteenth generation in the product line...
, a vector drawing program based on the Bezier curve introduced in 1987 and
Adobe PhotoshopAdobe Photoshop, or simply Photoshop, is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems. It is the current market leader for commercial bitmap and image manipulation software, and is the flagship product of Adobe Systems...
, written by brothers Thomas and John Knoll in 1990 were developed for use on MacIntosh computers. 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
- Algorithm art
- Computer art scene
The phrase computer art scene, or artscene for short, refers to a community of individuals and groups that are both interested and active in the creation of computer-based artwork.-Early computer art:...
- Computer Arts Society
The Computer Arts Society was founded in 1968, in order to encourage the creative use of computers in the arts. The three founder members of the Society – Alan Sutcliffe, George Mallen and John Lansdown – had been involved with computing and its related concepts for some time...
- Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of pictorial data by a computer....
- Computer music
Computer music is a term that was originally used within academia to describe a field of study relating to the applications of computing technology in music composition; particularly that stemming from the Western art music tradition...
- Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...
- Digital illustration
Computer illustration or digital illustration is the use of digital tools to produce images under the direct manipulation of the artist, usually through a pointing device such as a tablet or a mouse. It is distinguished from computer-generated art, which is produced by a computer using mathematical...
- Digital painting
Digital painting is an emerging art form in which traditional painting techniques such as watercolor, oils, impasto, etc. are applied using digital tools by means of a computer, a digitizing tablet and stylus, and software. Traditional painting is painting with a physical medium as opposed to a...
- Digital art
Digital art is an umbrella term for a range of artistic works and practices that exploit digital technology. Since the 1970s various names have been used to describe what is now called digital art including computer art and multimedia art but digital art is itself placed under the larger umbrella...
- Tradigital art
Tradigital art most commonly refers to art that combines both traditional and computer-based techniques. It is related to digital art, traditional art, information art, new media art, video art, interactive art, and internet art....
- Evolutionary art
Evolutionary art exploits the process of evolution to create an artwork which continually changes according to an evolutionary algorithm.In common with natural selection and animal husbandry, the members of a population undergoing artificial evolution modify their form or behaviour over many...
- Fractal art
Fractal art is created by calculating fractal objects and representing the calculation results as still images, animations, music, or other media....
- Generative art
Generative art refers to art that has been generated, composed, or constructed in an algorithmic manner through the use of systems defined by computer software algorithms, or similar mathematical or mechanical or randomised autonomous processes....
- Generative music
Generative music is a term popularized by Brian Eno to describe music that is ever-different and changing, and that is created by a system.- Theory :There are four primary perspectives on Generative Music Generative music is a term popularized by Brian Eno to describe music that is ever-different...
- Image development
- Interactive art
Interactive art is a form of installation-based art that involves the spectator in some way. Some installations achieve this by letting the observer walk in, on, and around them. Works frequently feature computers and sensors to respond to motion, heat, meteorological changes or other types of...
- Kisekae Set System
Kisekae Set System is a blending of art with computers originally designed to allow creation of virtual "paper dolls". Kisekae is short for "kisekae ningyou"; a Japanese term meaning "dress-up dolls"...
- New media art
New media art is a genre that encompasses artworks created with new media technologies, including digital art, computer graphics, computer animation, virtual art, Internet art, interactive art technologies, computer robotics, and art as biotechnology...
- Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which only use traditional forms of printed or hand-produced material...
- Music visualization
Music visualization, a feature found in some media player software, generates animated imagery based on a piece of recorded music. The imagery is usually generated and rendered in real time and synchronized with the music as it is played....
- Software art
Software art refers to works of art where the creation of software, or concepts from software, play an important role; for example software applications which were created by artists and which were intended as artworks...
- Systems art
Systems art is art influenced by systems theory, which reflects on natural systems, social systems and social signs of the art world itself. Systems art emerged as part of the first wave of the conceptual art movement extended in the 1960s and 1970s...
- Video game
Congress, exhibitions and promotion
- Computer Art Congress [CAC.2]: Mexico, March 26 - 28, 2008, organized by and held at Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Toluca and Campus Estado de México. Chairs: Khaldoun Zreik and Everardo Reyes García. Exhibition at: Museum of Modern Art, Toluca City, Mexico.
- Ars Electronica
- Computer Space forum
Computer Space forum is one of the oldest computer art festivals organized by Student Computer Art Society - SCAS in Sofia every year during the last 18 years. An international non-commercial event and platform joining young artists, students and producers of computer graphics, computer...
Further reading
- Honor Beddard and Douglas Dodds. (2009). Digital Pioneers. London: V&A Publishing. ISBN 987-1-85177-587-3
- Charlie Gere
Charlie Gere is a British academic who is Director of Research at the Institute for Cultural Research at Lancaster University-Career:* His PhD, ‘The Computer as an Irrational Cabinet’, was part practice-based and was from the Centre for Electronic Arts and the Department of Visual Culture,...
. (2002). Digital Culture, Reaktion. ISBN 978-1861891433
- Charlie Gere
Charlie Gere is a British academic who is Director of Research at the Institute for Cultural Research at Lancaster University-Career:* His PhD, ‘The Computer as an Irrational Cabinet’, was part practice-based and was from the Centre for Electronic Arts and the Department of Visual Culture,...
. (2006). White Heat, Cold Logic: Early British Computer Art, co-edited with Paul Brown, Catherine Mason and Nicholas Lambert, MIT Press/Leonardo Books.
- Mark Hansen. (2004). New Philosophy for New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Dick Higgins
Dick Higgins was a composer, poet, printer, and early Fluxus artist.Higgins was born in Cambridge, England. Like many of the other Fluxus artists, he studied composition with John Cage. He married artist Alison Knowles in 1960...
. (1966). Intermedia. Reprinted in Donna De Salvo (ed.), Open Systems Rethinking Art c. 1970, London: Tate PublishingTate Publishing Ltd is a publisher of visual arts books, associated with the Tate Gallery in London, England. It was established in 1911; nowadays it is a division of Tate Enterprises, and is based at Tate, Millbank, London...
, 2005.
- Lieser, Wolf. Digital Art. Langenscheidt: h.f. ullmann. 2009
- Lev Manovich
Lev Manovich is an author of new media books and a professor of Visual Arts, University of California, San Diego, U.S. where he teaches new media art and theory. His best known book is The Language of New Media, which has been widely reviewed and has been translated into Italian, Korean, Polish,...
. (2001). The Language of New Media Cambridge, Masschusetts: The MIT Press/Leonardo Books. ISBN 0-262-63255-1
- Lev Manovich
Lev Manovich is an author of new media books and a professor of Visual Arts, University of California, San Diego, U.S. where he teaches new media art and theory. His best known book is The Language of New Media, which has been widely reviewed and has been translated into Italian, Korean, Polish,...
. (2002, October). Ten Key Texts on Digital Art: 1970-2000. Leonardo - Volume 35, Number 5, pp. 567–569.
- Frieder Nake
Frieder Nake is a professor for computer graphics at the department for computer science at the University of Bremen and visiting professor for hypermedia design at the University of the Arts Bremen. He lives and works in Bremen, Germany.He has taught in Stuttgart, Toronto and Vancouver, and has...
. (2009, Spring). The Semiotic Engine: Notes on the History of Algorithmic Images in Europe. Art JournalEstablished in New York in 1941, Art Journal is a publication of the College Art Association of America . As a peer-reviewed, professionally-moderated scholarly journal, its concentrations include:...
, pp. 76–89.
- Edward A. Shanken
Edward A. Shanken is an American art historian of 20th and 21st century experimental new media art. His scholarship has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies and has been translated into six languages.-Background:...
. (2009). Art and Electronic Media. London: Phaidon.
- Rainer Usselmann. (2003). "The Dilemma of Media Art: Cybernetic Serendipity at the ICA London",Cambridge, Masschusetts: The MIT Press/Leonardo Journal - Volume 36, Number 5, October 2003, pp. 389–396.
External links