1968 magazine pages show early computer art: IBM 7090 plotters and Japan's CTG pioneers
Merzmensch · x · 2026-11-12
Merzmensch shares pages from the August 1968 issue of Computers and Automation, a key primary source on early computer art.
- The magazine ran its 6th Annual Computer Art Contest; first prize went to Kerry Strand and Gary Craigmile for "Hummingbird" (the cover piece).
- Participants include pioneers like Charles Csuri, Ken Knowlton, Stanley Vanderbeek, and several artists from Tokyo's Computer Technique Group (CTG).
- Featured works include "Star Kennedy" (designed by Masao Komura, programmed by Haruki Tsuchiya), which applied a pattern-deformation system to a photo using an IBM 7090 and CalComp 563 plotter, plus a digitized portrait of Norbert Wiener.
- Editors noted computer art was becoming yearly more sophisticated and colorful, mirroring the technology itself.
A rare firsthand look at the prehistory of generative art.
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