A Computer in the Art Room – Catherine Mason

March 6th, 2009

A Computer in the Art Room by Catherine Mason gives a detailed insight into the collaboration of art and cybernetics in Britain from the 1950s to the 1980s. With a historical focus, the author concentrates initially on the growth of the avant-garde artistic movement and the early computer industry, then moves on to give a fascinating view of the artists who took the technology of the time and consistently pushed the limits to produce the artworks they envisaged.

The narrative contrasts the difference between the conservative computer science establishment and the difficulties faced by pioneering artists who learned not only to use the computers of the time, but to write their own code and even build their own equipment, paving the way for the computer graphics industry as we know it today.

Images From Cybernetic Serendipity Exhibition, ICA London 1968

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