Art
and culture in the computer age is explored in the exhibit Coded:
Art Enters the Computer Age, 1952-1982, at the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art (LACMA).
Since
1952, when the first analog computer image was generated for
aesthetic purposes, the incorporation of technology in artistic
practices continued to evolve throughout the mainframe computer age
(1952-1982), the period between the use of computers exclusively as
military tools and the rise of the personal computer.
“Coded
brings to light early digital or computer art that has long been
overlooked, re-contextualizing it to encourage a new way of looking
at mainstream art of the period” said Leslie Jones, Curator, Prints
and Drawings.
Both
International and interdisciplinary in scope, Coded explores the origins of digital art within the context of mainstream
art movements
such as the geometric, abstract, optical illusion of Op
Art originating in the mid 1900 and the Conceptual Art of the mid
1960's to 70's, in which the essentiality of the depicted concept,
rather than the technique, is the driving artistic force.
Many
of the over 100 objects on display are from the museum's permanent
collection, and numerous of the 75 artists are exhibited for the
first time at LACMA.
Roughly
chronologically organized, the six thematic sections are: The
Computer and Popular Consciousness celebrates the development of
computers from a pure technological form to creative tools;
Mathematics and the Beginning of Computational Aesthetics represents
a period of depersonalization of the creative process in favor of
math's universality; Algorithms and Generative Text relates the use
of sets of algorithms to create art;
Encoding Art explores the
artist-scientist collaboration
in computer generated art with traditional artistic techniques; Information as Art/Art as Information relates the use of computer
data to address specific issues as well as to explore conventional
art topics, such as landscapes and biblical texts, in computer age
terms; and the Computer and Politics/ Open Scores in which the new
technology was used to express political positions as well as to
allow for performer input and improvisation.
Exhibition
highlights include Edward Kienholz's The Friendly Grey Computer-
Star Gauge Model #54 (1965) whose works anticipated the coming
age of personal computing, Vera Molnár's À la Recherche de Paul
Klee (1970) plotter drawing inspired by a 1927 painting by
Paul Klee,
Frederick Hammersley's “computer drawings” (1969) made
with Art1, one of the earliest computer programs designed for
artists,
and Stan VanDerBeek's film Poemfield No.1 (Blue Version)
(1967) who coded and animated his poem using a program called BEFLIX
(short for Bell Labs Flicks).
“As
an institution with a longstanding commitment to exploring the
intersection of art and technology ever since the founding of the Art
and Technology Program in 1967, LACMA is excited to present this
innovative exhibition,” said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO and Wallis
Annenberg Director.
Alongside
Coded, LACMA's Art + Technology Lab will be presenting a new
two-part digital work by Casey Reas: an homage and a response to
Victor Vasarely's unrealized proposal for LACMA's Art and Technology
Program (1967-1971). Casey Reas: METAVASARELY, an interactive
work, will be presented virtually on lacma.org during the run of the
exhibition (February 12-July 2). Casey Reas: An Empty Room, a
new digital work by Reas, will also be on view on BCAM, Level 2, from
April 9 through July 2.
The exhibit runs from February 12 to July 2, 2023, at BCAM, Level 2, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036. For more information call (323) 857-6000 or visit http://www.lacma.org/