COMPUTER ART TODAY AND TOMORROW Catherine Mason, from the Computer Arts Society (CAS) and author of A Computer in the Art Room: the origins of British computer arts 1950-80, looks back on a year of digital art, commemorates the work of Alan Sutcliffe and looks ahead to a new year of computer art. Image: iStockphoto The diverse and eclectic world of commissions, this successful show proved artists’ approach of the 1970s and computer and digital arts had an exciting the Barbican is increasing its speciality in computer artists overlap and have many year and the BCS special interest group, digital art. It is expected to tour at home connections. the Computer Arts Society (CAS), is pleased and internationally at least for the next five Gustav Metzger’s show at Kettles Yard to see continued developments, especially years. Gallery, University of Cambridge, in August within museums and galleries that contribute CAS member Ernest Edmonds focused on his lesser-known auto-creative to raising the profile of the genre and in organised Automatic Art: human and art. Gustav became famous for inventing particular that of British artists throughout machine processes that make art in July auto-destructive art in the early 1960s this country and internationally. at the GV Art gallery, London, and was one of the first artists in Britain We were treated to several museum- http://interactlabs.co.uk/files/5980/ to write of the potential for computer quality exhibitions this past year including gv-art-de-montfort-university-automatic- use in art. CAS lent exhibition materials, the major show Digital Futures at the art-press-release.pdf. including copies of PAGE, our periodical Barbican Art Gallery (July to September) A survey of 50 years of British artists first published in 1969 with Gustav as the www.barbican.org.uk/digital-revolution. who create work by using personal founding editor. Focusing on ‘things that are creatively rules or by writing computer programs The name PAGE was chosen by Gustav ambitious for their time’, from the 1970s to generate abstract visual forms, as initially there was only one page to present day, and with many special it demonstrated that the systems available for printing (due to costs) and it 142 DIGITAL LEADERS 2014 COMPUTER ARTS was a pun on the concept of paging (the Documentation was held at the ICA, Also in 2015 we will be looking forward use of disk memory as a virtual store, London, to explore the impact and to an exhibition in Rio de Janeiro featuring which had been introduced on the Ferranti continued relevance, nearly 50 years on, the work of CAS members Harold Cohen, Atlas Computer). of the pioneering Cybernetic Serendipity Frieder Nake, Ernest Edmonds and Paul The questions Metzger posed about exhibition held there in 1968. This ground- Brown. ‘Códigos Primordiais’ (Primary technological responsibility in the 1960s breaking show was the first international Codes) will occupy all three floors of Oi! seem as pertinent, perhaps even more so, exhibition in the UK devoted to the Futuro exhibition space in Rio: today. Although we still may not have any relationship between the arts and new www.oifuturo.org.br/en satisfactory answers, art can remind us to technology and featured collaborations In February we mourned the loss of keep asking and challenging the status quo. between artists and scientists. one of our founder members and first An important collection of early plotter In addition to an assortment of chairman, Alan Sutcliffe. It was his idea drawings by German artist Frieder Nake monthly talks and presentations, the CAS to gather together a group of like-minded were acquired by the Victoria & Albert programme this year included the annual people who were interested in the Museum with funding assistance from EVA Conference held at the London HQ of creative use of computing, for exchange the Art Fund. The acquisition of a full set BCS. (www.eva-london.org) This is always of information, discussion and exhibition of such early algorithmically-generated a good opportunity to apprise oneself opportunities. Together with George works will enable study of the progression of the latest international research in Mallen and R John Lansdown he founded of the artist’s process. visualisation, design, animation and digital the CAS in 1969, the first practitioner-led To use digital computing for artistic archive documentation. Michael Takeo organisation of its kind in Britain. Alan was aims, at a time when digital computing Macgruder, who has been developing also a stalwart of BCS; in the late 1970s itself was in its infancy, required a great interactive digital art since the late 1990s, he was elected Vice President for the leap of faith by pioneers. This adds to the exhibited his new dome-based work Data specialist groups. impressive computer art collections of Sea as part of an art exhibit curated by our His deep knowledge of and enthusiasm the V&A and its continuing profile as the chairman, Dr Nicholas Lambert. for the subject together with the National Centre for Computer Arts. In line with CAS’s mission to support welcoming, inclusive nature of his In a first for a UK museum, the V&A and propagate computer art, we support personality will be greatly missed. Look out appointed a Games Designer in Residence the Lumen Art Prize, a major international for a special issue of PAGE dedicated to late in 2014. Sophia George, inspired by competition with 800 submissions from 45 him later in 2015. the museum’s collections, especially that countries http://lumenprize.com. If you are not yet signed up to our (free) of William Morris, worked with the public An exhibition of all the prize-winners emailing list, then please visit and schools to develop a game based on was launched at Llandaff Cathedral and www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ webadmin?A0=CAS Sophia George, inspired by the museum’s See also our website: collections, especially that of William Morris, http://computer-arts-society.com and worked with the public and schools to develop a Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/ Computer-Arts-Society/303023289760986 game based on Morris’s well-known Strawberry All are welcome. Thief pattern. About the author Morris’s well-known Strawberry Thief will be shown in Athens, New York, Hong Catherine Mason, is a committee member pattern. It was released in October for iPad Kong and London with a joint show at of CAS, the author of A Computer in the Art and iPhone. BAFTA-award winning Sophia Ravensbourne and Birkbeck in March Room: the origins of British computer arts aims to change perceptions of game 2015. Digital artists in all areas are 1950-80, and writes a regular design, not least that young women can be encouraged to submit to this prize in 2015, column on contemporary computer art for involved in games as well. as it will also enable them to connect the BCS website and ITNOW magazine. www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/g/game- with a broader public. The vast array of www.catherinemason.co.uk designer-resident-sophia-george different styles and approaches that this In October an exhibition and associated prize attracts demonstrates the vibrancy of conference Cybernetic Serendipity: A contemporary technological art. 2014 DIGITAL LEADERS 143.