computer art

computer art. Art produced with the aid of a computer or more specifically art in which the role of the computer is emphasized. Artists first began to experiment with computers in the 1950s and a Computer Arts Society was founded in Britain in 1969. At this time the art produced with computers was usually graphic material, in which, for example, specified geometric shapes were printed in random combinations. However, the development of the ‘light pen’ or stylus in the 1970s allowed the artist to work interactively with a display on a screen. Among the well-known artists who have experimented with such technology are Richard Hamilton and David Hockney. As well as enabling artists to use relatively direct ‘painting’ techniques, computers have been programmed to produce extremely complex images. Harold Cohen is highly skilled in this field, developing his own program to generate abstract drawings that he then enlarges and colours by hand (Socrates' Garden, Buhl Science Center, Pittsburgh, 1984). Computers have also been used, for example, to control the movements of Kinetic sculpture.