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Information to Users INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper aligmnent can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI University Microfilms international A Bell & Howell Information Company 3 0 0 Nortfi Z eeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 4 8 1 0 6 -1 3 4 6 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9227338 From canvas to computer; Harold Cohen’s artificial intelligence paradigm for art making Morbey, Mary Leigh, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1992 Copyright ©1992 by Morbey, Mary Leigh. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. ZeebRd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 N FROM CANVAS TO COMPUTER: HAROLD COHEN'S ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PARADIGM FOR ART MAKING DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Mary Leigh Morbey, B.A., M.A.L.S., Drs. ***** The Ohio State University 1992 Dissertation Committee: Approved by T. Barrett C. Csuri __ Idviser J. Korosdk Department of Art Education M. Parsons Copyright by Mary Leigh Morbey 1992 To my husband Graham To my friend Calvin Seerveld 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my adviser. Professor Terry Barrett, for the consistent encouragement, support, and critical insights that he contributed to this dissertation endeavor. I thank, as well, the other members of my dissertation committee. Professors Charles Csuri, Judith Korosdk, and Michael Parsons. Their insights and suggestions led me to more nuanced considerations of Harold Cohen's art. The beginning stages of my dissertation research were conducted under the direction of Professor Carel Blotkamp of the Free University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). I am grateful for his interest and expertise. Harold Cohen has graciously contributed to my endeavor through personal and telephone interviews, updated vitaes, by providing me with copies of current essays about his art making, and through his written response to this dissertation located in Appendix B. I thank the administration of Redeemer College for its continual support of my doctoral work. In particular, I thank the Vice-President Academic, Justin Cooper, and my current Division Chairperson, Professor Hugh Cook. Ill I express appreciation to my many Redeemer College colleagues who have given me support and encouragement. My family has graciously lived through this experience and I thank my children, Leighanna, Anthony, and Jonathan for their tolerance. I thank my mother, Liggie Smith, for her constant encouragement of my academic endeavors, and my Swiss aunts, Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson, for introducing me to the world of the visual arts that I have come to love. I thank friends Graham Birtwistle, Lorrie Blair, Lynda Cockroft, Loes Derksen, Jane Devos-Kors, Carol Gigliotti, Elske Kuiper, Elizabeth Kowalchuk, A. J. Olson, Paul Van Arragon, Harry Van Belle, and Jan Van Stralen for discussion, challenge, and friendship. And I thank my Redeemer College students who keep me excited about teaching and research that I share with them. In particular, I express appreciation to art majors Corina Bos and Judy De Haan for teaching assistance that enabled me to complete the final writing of the dissertation, and to Annette Van Geest for her contribution to the Harold Cohen Bibliographic Database. IV VTTA April 1947 .......................................... Bom - Charlottesville, Virginia 1969..................................................... B.A., Art, Wheaton College 1972..................................................... Master of Arts in Liberal Studies in the History of Art, Hollins College 1976 ..................................................... Doctorandus in the History of Art, Free University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) 1978-1980............................................ Lecturer, Assistant Professor, and Department Chair, University of Maine at Machias 1983..................................................... Lecturer, Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada) 1984-1987............................................ Instructor and Lecturer, Redeemer College (Canada) 1987-present ...................................... Assistant Professor and Department Chair, Redeemer College PUBLICATIONS "Making a Difference: Artists in Residence," Columbus Art 2-3,1991,4. "A Balance of Elements," Columbus Art 2-3,1991, 9. "Computer Art: Vision of a New Millennium," Columbus Art 1, 1991, 3. "Aaron: Portrait of the Young Machine as a Male Artist/' Abstracts of Research Presentations. Universities Art Association of Canada Annual Meeting, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, 1990. "Order and Change: Lyrical Play in Peter Struycken's Computational Structures," Abstracts of Research Presentations, Universities Art Association of Canada Annual Meeting, University of Winnipeg and University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1989. Foreword, Hommage a Senggih: A Retrospective of Henk Kriiger in North America [exhibition catalogue], Montreal: Métropole Litho Inc., 1988, 5-6. "Artificial Imaging: Harold Cohen and Art Making on the Computer," Abstracts of Research Presentations. Universities Art Association of Canada Annual Meeting, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1987. "An Ancient Resource for a New Practice: A Response to Use Friesen," The Conrad Grebel Review 5, 3 (1987): 254-257. "The Inferno Revisited: The Use of Dante in the Vision of Michelangelo and Delacroix, " Abstracts of Research Presentations, Universities Art Association of Canada Annual Meeting, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, 1986. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Art Education Studies in Art Criticism in Art Education. Professor Terry Barrett. Studies in Art History. Professor Carel Blotkamp. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................... iü VITA.......................................................................................................... V LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................... x LIST OF PLATES............................................................................................xi CHAPTER I ................................................................................................ 1 AN OVERVIEW Background, Purpose, and Need for the S tu d y................. 3 The Research Problem ..................................................... 8 Significance of the Investigation ......................................... 8 Methodology ...................................................................... 15 CHAPTER n .............................................................................................. 21 COHEN THE PAINTER The Legacy of the Slade School of Art in the Art Making of Harold Cohen........................................................ 22 Cohen's Paintings of the 1950s ........................................... 28 Paintings of the 1960s.......................................................... 42 English Modern Art and English Abstract Expressionism ......................................................... 57 Cohen Amid the Modem English Artists .......................... 64 Similar Concepts — Cohen and the English Abstract Expressionist ............................................................ 65 Conclusion.......................................................................... 71 CHAPTER m ........................................................................................... 73 COHEN THE COMPUTER ARTIST Cohen, California, and the Com puter................................ 74 Artificial Intelligence ............................................................ 78 Drawing Machine AARON ............................................... 87 Cohen and the Development of Computer Related Art . 102 Conclusion.............................................................................109 vii CHAPTER IV ............................................................................................. Ill CRITICS ON COHEN'S WORK Cohen Paints and the Critics W rite ...................................... 112 Cohen's Reputation G row s...................................................117 Cohen's Computer Generated Imagery and a New Critical Audience....................................................... 123 Confirmation Within the Visual
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