Very soon, artificial intelligence (AI) will probably be present in all aspects of our lives. The Barbican’s new exhibition (till 26 August) attempts to address the question where do we end and where does it begin? Read my review just published in Studio International.
If you are in the vicinity of Richmond upon Thames, West London this October, why not come to my lecture with the Richmond Art Society at the American International University on 31 October 2018. A Machine that Makes Art: from early computer drawing to the art of the iPad – the inspiration for this talk comes from the great conceptual artist Sol LeWitt’s statement, The idea becomes a machine that makes the ar (1967).
Although LeWitt’s machine was metaphorical rather than literal, nevertheless this radical concept raised questions about art process and creative behaviour and challenged the notion of what art was or could be.
Start time 8pm. Open to non-members: £5.00
Read my review in Studio International of the new display of computer art at the Victoria & Albert Museum London – Chance and Control: Art in the age of Computers and learn of the remarkable diversity of the V&A’s collection and how it has grown from early beginnings in just ten years. Among many things of interest here are three fabulous works by Harold Cohen from his early, mid and later period. Exhibition on now until 18 November 2018.
The computer, like any tool or machine, extends human capabilities. But it is unique in that it extends the power of the mind as well as the hand. Robert Mallary, 1976
Read my essay From Mind to Machine, computer drawing in art history, just published in the catalogue to coincide with the Writing New Codes exhibition at the Mayor Gallery, Cork Street.
I was inspired by the above quote from American pioneer of computer arts, Robert Mallary (1917-1997), whose work will be on view in the show from 6 June, along with drawings by Vera Molnar and Waldemar Cordeiro. The fully illustrated catalogue can be purchased from the Gallery.
See also this review by Colin Gleadell in the Daily Telegraph.
All my BCS Image of the Month articles are now archived on-line at the Computer Arts Society. With thanks to Sean Clark for his sterling work on this.
Fifty years on from Cybernetic Serendipity, the 1968 exhibition of computer art, Studio International remembers the impact and legacy of this seminal show. Read my article which looks at the history of the exhibition and how it has shaped digital art in the years since.
AND Congratulations to Paul Brown for his show Process, Chance, and Serendipity: Art That Makes Itself at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C. on now until 15 July 2018. Read a review in the New Scientist.
Thrilled to be a part of Showcase, the arts program on TRT World television on 14 November, with thanks to Belle Lupton. Watch me again here, speaking about the effects of technology on art. 
Come to my forthcoming lecture in Dundee –
‘A huge space of endless predetermined possibilities’: Computer art and the influence of D’Arcy Thompson
On 8 November 6pm, I’m thrilled to be going to the D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum to talk about how the writing of code has been used to draw since digital computing technology became accessible to artists from the mid-1960s. This year is the 100th anniversary of D’Arcy W Thompson’s book On Growth and Form (1917) which had a formative influence on the pioneers of algorithmic art.
In this talk we will learn how complex and visually arresting imagery often comes from surprisingly simple sets of instructions. We will discover that the use of the computer offers ‘a huge space of endless predetermined possibilities.’ (William Latham, artist)
Co-organised with the Abertay Historical Society as part of NEoN Digital Arts Festival supported by Creative Scotland. Book your ticket here
I was saddened to hear of the death of Tony Pritchett in August this year. For those who don’t know, Tony created The Flexipede in 1967, the first fully surviving work of computer animation created in Britain. I first met Tony in 2002 and he was always supportive of my research into the history of computer arts in Britain, never losing patience with my often limited grasp at that time of the technical aspects of the subject. I asked him how he came to create the Flexipede and why. After giving a detailed explanation, I then asked him who he had told this story to and where it was published, thinking I would look up some more aspects later. He replied that “no one has ever asked me before” ! This I found astonishing – the man who created the first British computer-generated animation should by rights be a household name nearly 30 years later. I feel enormously privileged to be one of the first to finally publish his story, which you can read in chapter 9 of The Computer in the Art Room.
Tony loved filmmaking, often making recordings and videos of Computer Arts Society events, lectures and parties. I remember him filming me giving a speech at the book launch of The Computer in the Art Room at Somerset House in 2008. He was an early member of the CAS and could always be counted on for support and enthusiasm. It was typical of his kindness in supporting me at the Bits in Motion film screening I held at the NFT in 2006 (below). In addition to his computer arts activities, he told me he was interested in homeopathy and edited Positive News at one time. A very cultured and considerate gentleman, who will be greatly missed.
I feel privileged to have known the ground-breaking artist Gustav Metzger
who passed away a couple of weeks ago. He was a very early member of the Computer Arts Society and the first editor of our journal PAGE from 1969.
His links with the early world of British computer arts is discussed in my article published today on the BCS