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THE Algoristsby Roman Verostko © 2012

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THE Algoristsby Roman Verostko © 2012 THE ALGORISTS http://www.algorists.org/algorist.html verostko main menu | contact | copyright | home THE ALGORISTS by Roman Verostko © 2012 Above: Jean Pierre Hebert, a distinguished founding member of the algorists, with one of his recent "Bright Wavelet" digital drawings, 2008 (38" by 77"). www.jeanpierrehebert.com photo by roman, 2012 Often I am asked "Who are the algorists?" Simply put, algorists are artists who create art using algorithmic procedures that include their own algorithms. This page presents an account of the origin of this usage and the algorithm serving as the "algorist manifesto". In the latter half of the 20th Century, with the growth in information science and digital technologies the use of algorithmic procedure spread far beyond the dreams of its earliest practitioners. We have, among the living in 2012, a number of pioneer algorists whose vision and work with programming pointed the way that permeates the world of art today. Jean Pierre Hebert, who wrote the algorithm serving as a manifesto of the "algorists", is shown above with one of his drawings that speaks eloquently of algorithmic form-generation. Pictured below are four algorist pioneers who were present in the context of a display of digital pioneer works at the Victoria & Albert in London, 2010. 1 sur 15 20/03/2013 19:12 THE ALGORISTS http://www.algorists.org/algorist.html Left to Right: Mark Wilson, Manfred Mohr, Roman Verostko & Frieder Nake: Four algorist pioneers at the Victoria & Albert, Museum, Jan 5, 2010. Photo by Douglas Dodds in the context of a V & A display of their work. While not present for the photo above, celebrated pioneers like Herbert Franke, Vera Molnar, Charles Csuri, and Harold Cohen (shown below), were well represented in the Digital Pioneers (Note 8.) . Herbert Franke Vera Molnar, 1985, archives of Charles Csuri on occasion of Harold Cohen From the film: Age of photo by Andreas Hübner Frieder Nake's comp-art data base. his SIGGRAPH Lifetime Achieve- the Intelligent Machines ment Award, 2011,.Vancouver, Canada. Historically the term "algorithm" refers to the step by step mathematical procedure for carrying out a specific calculating task (see note 3) . The detailed instruction directing a drawing machine on how to draw a visual form is also an algorithm. Today, more broadly, a composer's score for musical form and a choreographer's notations for dance may also be viewed as algorithms. Such notations, similar to computer software formats, are detailed procedures for carrying out a task. This Seventeenth Century keyboard music, is thought to be in the hand of the great keyboard composer, Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643). The Vatican folios shown (23 & 24) display the opening from his Fourth Toccata. The score may be viewed as an algorithm, expressive both in structure and in the writing hand of the cvomposer. © Vatican Library MS: Chig. Q. IV 29 fols. 23 verso-24 recto music17 NB.40. Image source: http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/vatican.exhibit Algorithmic art may be found throughout history, from prehistoric basket weaving to geometric and conceptual art in the 20th Century. For more on usage of the term algorithm see my notes on algorithmic art. With the advent of computers the possibilities for generating visual form with more complex algorithmic procedure attracted some visual and sound artists to explore these avenues for creating their art. In the last quarter of the 20th Century I was one of a like minded group of artists who undertook to write instructions for executing our art. On occasion I referred to my art as "writing the score for drawing". "Computer art" was the common term applied to all art associated with computers We felt a need to identify the nature of algorithmic art. Some of us had been working with algorithmic 2 sur 15 20/03/2013 19:12 THE ALGORISTS http://www.algorists.org/algorist.html procedure for about a quarter century before our 1995 declaration as "algorists". The 1995 manifesto of the "algorists" was not a declaration of something new; rather, it was the declaration of an artistic practice that had already brought radical change and would continue to change the way we would create art in the 21st Century. This practice also had a valuable presence in sculpture and music. Helaman Ferguson would be a sculptor whose algorist practice celebrated an aesthetic rooted in mathematics. His "Four Canoes", shown below, is an excellent example with links to information on the procedure for achieving the form of the tori, the pedestal, and the platform. Helaman Ferguson "Four Canoes", , 1997, University of St Thomas Science and Engineering Center, St. Paul, MN, USA. This impressive algorithmic presence features two interlocked six foot granite tori mounted on a platform created with hexagonal tiling. Note 6 Photo Credit: RV Yet algorist art should not be confused with mathematics. Algorithmic drawings, like my "Green Cloud" shown below, evolved from my passion, as a painter, for the marriage of spontaneous brushwork and studied arrangement. With elementary programming abilities I explored the same goals I had set for myself as a painter. Clearly programming and mathematics do not create art. Programming is a tool that serves the the vision and passion of the artist who creates the procedure. *Green Cloud (the drawing)" by Roman Verostko. Pen & ink plotter drawing. Three Story Drawing Machine, north wall, MCAD, Nothern Spark, "White Night", ca. Drawing process presented as a Three Story Drawing Machine, June 2011 at the 4:30 AM, June 5, 2011, nearing the end of an 8 hour, all night drawing session. Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD). LOOKING BACK Before looking back let me note that several pioneer algorists have carried their form explorations 3 sur 15 20/03/2013 19:12 THE ALGORISTS http://www.algorists.org/algorist.html well into the 21st Century. Of these Manfred Mohr and Harold Cohen stand out as two of those master pioneers who were the first to achieve mature algorithmic styles. Manfred's "Klangfarben" series demonstrates the power of algorithmic procedure in the hands of a master. Manfred has labored for over 40 years creating visual tension fields as an art of pure visual form. In this series we experience algorithmic form generation in real time. Manfred Mohr, "Klangfarben" series (2006-2007) Harold Cohen, Starting Over, 2011, oil painting, 50 by 80 inches from Bitforms Gallery on Vimeo. © Manfred Mohr "Aaron", a personification of Harold Cohen's software, represents 40 years of work on creating an intelligent artist. Aaron's drawings and paintings, grew from Harold's earlier experience as a painter. Consequently "Aaron's" code appears to yield a mysterious relationship to Harold as the artist-painter in his earlier years. Historically how did we get here? In the earlier days of computing there were no software tools for artists. In the 1960's a few artists like Manfred Mohr saw the "form-generating" power of computers as an opportunity for their art. Software and technical procedures for visualization grew hand in hand with hardware. Artists engaging new computing and visualizing technologies had to either collaborate with engineers for programming their ideas or else create their own programs (algorithms). Manfred Mohr, New York P-021/A, "band-structure", ink/paper, 1969, 50cm x 50cm Early plotter drawing in a series achieved with algorithmic procedures that included rules he viewed as "aesthetical-filters" P702F, Endurachrome, 2000. canvas, 76cm x 100cm. This work belongs to the artist's space/color work phase that followed about 30 years of his work in monochrome. Mohr's work with coded procedure, steadfast for over a period of 43 years, demonstrates the power of algorithmic procedure. Yet the term algorist was not introduced until 26 years after his first algorithmic work. http://www.emohr.com/ © 2000 by Manfred Mohr 4 sur 15 20/03/2013 19:12 THE ALGORISTS http://www.algorists.org/algorist.html Those artists who first experimented writing coded artistic procedures for computers included Herbert Frank, Manfred Mohr, Frieder Nake, Georg Nees, Vera Molnar, and Edward Zajec. Artists who used computers in the art-making process were often called "computer artists". Frieder Nake, a pioneer algorist, has, in recent years, served as the chief investigator documenting first generation "Digital Art" at the University of Bremen in Germany. This "CompArt" data bank provides an excellent source for perusing the breadth and depth of early algorithmic art. From the 1970's up to the early 1990's this work was generally referred to as "computer art", a term that became the umbrella for any kind of art associated with computers. A.Michael Noll, USA, Computer composition with lines, 1964. This drawing was meant to mime procedures similar to those employed by Mondrian for his "Composition with lines". For sources see Note 7 Hardware: IBM 7094 computer and a General Dynamics SC-4020 microfilm plotter. Frieder Nake, Germany Nr. 2 Homage à Paul Klee Dated: September 13, 1965 Program: COMPART ER 56. Drawn with Zuse-Graphomat Z 64 Size: 50 × 50 cm Signed lower left: Nake/ER56/Z64 Produced at the Technische Hochschule Stuttgart Artwork Type: serigraphic print edition after plotter drawing. Ink on paper. Collections include: Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb V&A Collection, London. © 5 sur 15 20/03/2013 19:12 THE ALGORISTS http://www.algorists.org/algorist.html Vera Molnar, Quadrilaterals, pen & ink, 1988 Herbert Franke Electronic Graphics,1961-62.. , 30 by 35 cm., Coll Szollosi-Nagy-Nemes Harold Cohen, 1999 Aaron's Garden, pen and ink drawing plotted by Aaron in 1989. "Aaron" is a "personal expert system" that Harold Cohen developed for generating art. "Aaron" consists of Harold's coded program of generative drawing procedures and a flat bed pen plotter.
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