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Considering how culturally indispensable digital technology is today, it is ironic that computer-generated art was attacked when it burst onto the scene in the early 1960s. In fact, no other twentieth-century art form has elicited such a negative and hostile response. When the Machine Made Art examines the cultural and critical response to computer art, or what we refer to today as digital art. Tracing the heated debates between art and science, the societal anxiety over nascent computer technology, and the myths and philosophies surrounding digital computation, Taylor is able to identify the destabilizing forces that shape and eventually fragment the computer art movement.
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When the Machine Made Art INTERNATIONAL TEXTS IN CRITICAL MEDIA AESTHETICS VOLUME 7 Founding Editor Francisco J. Ricardo Series Editor Jörgen Schäfer Editorial Board Rita Raley John Cayley George Fifield Tony Richards Teri Rueb When the Machine Made Art The Troubled History of Computer Art GRANT D. TAYLOR International Texts in Critical Media Aesthetics N E W YOR K • LON DON • N E W DE L H I • SY DN EY Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc 1385 Broadway New York NY 10018 USA 50 Bedford Square London WC1B 3DP UK www.bloomsbury.com Bloomsbury is a registered trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2014 © Grant D. Taylor 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Taylor, Grant D. When the machine made art : the troubled history of computer art / Grant D. Taylor. pages cm – (International texts in critical media aesthetics) Summary: “Examines the cultural and critical response to computer art, by identifying the destabilizing forces that affect, shape, and eventually fragment the computer art movement”– Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-62356-795-8 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-62356-884-9 (paperback) 1. Computer art. I. Title. N7433.8.T39 2014 776 – dc23 2013046891 ISBN: HB: 978-1-6235-6795-8 PB: 978-1-6235-6884-9 ePub: 978-1-6235-6272-4 ePDF: 978-1-6235-6561-9 Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd. To Victoria and Vivienne CONTENTS Acknowledgments viii 1 2 3 4 5 Introduction: Unorthodox 1 Future crashes 25 Coded aesthetics 65 Virtual renaissance 103 Frontier exploration 157 Critical impact 201 Epilogue: Aftermath 249 Notes 268 Bibliography 305 Index 321 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research that provided the backbone to this book was conducted at two institutions on two continents. While pursuing scholarship in Australia and doing the same in the United States often differed in significant ways, the generous support of my colleagues remained the same. At the University of Western Australia in Perth, scholars such as Clarissa Ball, Patrick Beale, Richard Read, Nicole Sully, and Ian McLean provided helpful suggestions and challenged my thinking at every moment. At Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, I received the same type of assistance—individuals with a critical focus willing to assist a colleague in completing a large research project. The members of the art and art history department—Karen Beall, Barbara McNulty, Dan Massad, and Michael Pittari—continually provided me with positive reinforcement. To Jeff Robbins, I owe special thanks. An ever-generous colle