Early computer art publications
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I’m working on a catalogue for plotter practitioners about the early history of pen plotter materials. It looks at the variety of papers, pens and inks and the context surrounding their use during the 60s –70s. I’ve become a bit of a paper enthusiast in recent years due to an interest in indie magazines and artist books etc., and I studied computer graphics way back so this strangely-niche-subject ticks many of my boxes.
A pen plotter is a computer controlled vector drawing machine, most often with a pen attachment though you can use brushes etc.; it's driven by code instructions such as pen up and down. Back in the 60s, pen and microfilm plotters were among the few ways to view output from a digital computer as there were no screens yet. Scientist-engineers were the first to have access in labs and universities. They'd write a program, maybe hand it off to an operator and come back in a day or two to see what they'd done. Pen plotters have been in continuous use since then, just about surviving inkjet printers (ours is a modified 3D printer).
One aspect of the research I particularly enjoyed is all the publications and ephemera around early 'computer art'. I've always been curious how magazines covering digital design are handled, and this list delves into the history of that genre. More recent examples are Increment, Offscreen, Holo, Back Office, and the Google Span books. This small curated list of 27 items, gives a quick tour through some highlights. I've taken some liberties by including publications which are 'computer art adjacent', or that relate to the history in some way. There's overlap between early computer art, concrete poetry and graphic design which is reflected here; as a new field they're weren't whole publications dedicated to it.
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( photo Lars Müller Publishers ) |
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( photo North East ) |
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( photo fontsinuse ) |
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(photo theprintarkive) |
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( photo agoodbook) |
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( photo Spalter Digital Collection ) |
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( photo theideaofthebook ) |
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( photo Hansjörg Mayer ) |
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( photo theideaofthebook ) |
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( photo Kunstverein München ) |
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(photo Manfred Mohr ) |
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(photo Printed Matter) |
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– Experimental Magazines and the International Avant-Gardes, 1945 –75
– Gwen Allen: Artists' Magazines. An Alternative Space for Art
– Howardena Pindell: Alternative Space: Artists' Periodicals