D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson

Lecture – Computer art and the influence of D’Arcy Thompson

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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.

William Latham muta6, 2014 (detail)

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

Form and Number

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Daniel Brown, screenshot from series On Growth and Form, real-time 3D, 2013. Collection of the University of Dundee, copyright the artist, reproduced with permission.
Daniel Brown, screenshot from series On Growth and Form, real-time 3D, 2013. Collection of the University of Dundee, copyright the artist, reproduced with permission.

This month my BCS column investigates an interesting commission from the University of Dundee Museum

Services who have been working with theArt Fund on a £100,000 project to explore the influence of Sir D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson in the visual arts. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the Dundee Collections and the Thompson connection, this grant funding has uniquely facilitated the creation of an art work itself with an interdisciplinary concept at its heart – On Growth and Form by Daniel Brown. Read the full article here: http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/50050