Technology-Based Art

 Technology has literally taken over every aspect of

life in the 21st century.
 Essentially computer-generated and/or manipulated.

Visual Artists Computer Artists

 Used actual brushes and  Employ the ever-
palettes expanding powers of
image manipulation
programs and
applications to create
their works which can
appear in an entire
range of media
 A whole array of paints
 Inks
 Natural pigments applied
to paper, canvas,
fabric, stucco walls and
ceilings.

Computer/Digital Arts

What Is Digital Art?

Some artists use materials like paints and brushes to

create art. Today, many others also use modern means of
exploring creativity, like video technology, television and
computers. This type of art is called digital art.

Digital art is work made with digital technology or presented on

digital technology. This includes images done completely on
computer or hand-drawn images scanned into a computer and
finished using a software program like Adobe Illustrator.
Digital art can also involve animation and 3D virtual
sculpture renderings as well as projects that combine
several technologies. Some digital art involves
manipulation of video images.
 The term 'digital art' was first used in the 1980s in
connection to an early computer painting program (yes,
before they were called apps!). It's a method of art-making
that lends itself to a multimedia format because it can
potentially be viewed in many ways, including on TV and the
Internet, on computers, and on multiple social media
platforms. In short, digital art is a sort of merger
between art and technology. It allows many new ways to make
art.

Beginnings of Digital Art

Digital art couldn't really exist without computers. Those

machines so familiar to us today got their start in the
1940s, when the first true computer, the Electronic
Numerical Integrator and Computer, or the ENIAC, was
created for military purposes. Artists first began
exploring the possibilities of art from computers and
related technologies in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Early experiments with computer art came around 1965.

German artist Frieder Nake (1938 - ), who also happened to
be a mathematician, created a computer algorithm that
enabled the machine to draw a series of shapes to make
artwork. An algorithm, by the way, is a programmed list of
instructions that tells a computer what to do. The
resulting computer-generated drawings were some of the
earliest examples of art done on a computer.

Homage to Paul Klee

This drawing is one of the most often cited in books and

articles about the earliest phase of computer art (mid-
1960s). It may be called an icon of the pioneering times of
the digital art movement. It is not known precisely how
many exemplars may exist of this drawing in the form of
orginally produced by the automatic drawing machine. Nake
estimates that he generated about 30 or 40 copies during
the years from 1965 to 1967. Each one of these must be
considered an original work.

Zufälliger Polygonzug

The computer-generated drawing belongs to the earliest ever

by Nake, and also to the very early in all of algorithmic
drawings. The generative algorithm is the simplest
possible: from the current point draw a randomly chosen
edge (direction and length), Stay within the drawing’s
boundary.

One of the first truly digital works of art was created in

1967 by Americans Kenneth Knowlton (1931 - ) and Leon
Harmon (1922 - 1982). They took a photograph of a nude
woman and changed it into a picture composed of computer
pixels, titled Computer Nude (Studies in Perception I). A
pixel is one small element of an image; when many pixels
are combined, they can create a larger, complete image.
This nude was one of the first digital artworks.

https://www.albrightknox.org/artworks/p20142-computer-nude-
studies-perception-i
Art, Music, and Architecture Around the World/ Humanities
Courses © copyright 2003-2018 Study.com.
Origin and Early Stages

 First came on the scene in the early 1960’s, this was

due to the technology that was constantly developing
and that became available at the time.
 The early experimenters were not necessarily artists,
but engineers and scientists who had access to and
experience with the hardware needed.
 These engineers and scientists began to recognize the
potential of artistic expression through the
application of scientific and mathematical principles.
 Digital artwork has a strong scientific and
mathematical look.
 Geometric forms and repeating patterns appear
frequently.
 More traditional subjects like human beings,
landscapes, animals, and still-life elements are
simply incorporated as part of those forms and
patterns- rather than as the main focus.
 Also understandable was the initial reaction of the
public to computer-generated art.
 Make use of electronic and mechanical devices, rather
than the artist’s own hand to produce the images and
effects.
 Within a few years, however there was a general
acceptance of digital art as an exciting and thought-
provoking form of modern art.
 Exhibits of computer art became highly popular and
critically acclaimed, as digital artists or computer
art masters or “superstars” came to the fore in
Europe, Russia and the United States.
Frieder Nake

 A mathematician, computer scientist, and pioneer of

computer art. He is best known internationally for
his contributions to the earliest manifestations of
computer art, a field of computing that made its
first public appearances with three small exhibitions
in 1965.
 belongs to the founding fathers of (digital) computer
art.

http://dada.compart-bremen.de/item/agent/68

Questions:
1. What forms of art are you familiar with?
2. Have you heard of computer art?
3. Would you be able to identify these examples as
traditional art or computer art? Explain how.
4. Can you give a brief definition of what computer
art is?
5. Do you have any experience with using the
computer? If yes, what device/s have you used?
6. What computer software do you use?
7. For what purposes do you use these?
8. Have you ever tried creating art with a
computer?
Polygon Drawings (Frieder Nake, 1965)

Schrotter ("Gravel") (Georg Nees, c. 1965)

(Des) Ordres (Vera Molnar, 1974) Plotter Drawing

Mountain and Staurolyte (Ronald Davis, 1997) Computer-generated 3D Art

 Manfred Mohr, 1999

Olga Kisseleva, 2012

Jean Pierre Hebert, 2007

Some digital artists have even used their works to express

their views on political, social, and cultural issues, as
well as to advocate causes that are critical to modern
life, such as the environment and climate change. Others
even explore the philosophical relationship between science
and technology and the arts.
Filipino digital and 3D artist Anthony Ocampo's ambition is to win an Oscar award.

And that dream is not that far-fetched. After all, Ocampo has already won four
awards from the Visual Effects Society (VES) for his work in television for the shows
“E.R.,” “Spartacus,” “Helen of Troy” and “Las Vegas.”

Digitally Abstract
by angordz, Oct 31, 2016, 8:41:49 AM
Journals / Personal
On March 25, 1958, Antonio Alim Gorordo who is more
commonly called by his family and friends as "Toni" or
“Gordz” was born to a family of four children in Sorsogon,
Bicol. His first and greatest attempt at tapping his
potentials happened when he playfully sketched portraits of
notable personalities including his favorite singer John
Lennon during his high school days. From that moment on,
his talent improved until it became more refined.

In 1982, triggered by the heartrending state of the

Philippines as the Marcos regime severely bludgeoned the
rights of the Filipinos which ultimately created the
political and social instability, the would-be engineer
expressed his angst for the Philippines in the form of
abstract paintings instead of joining his peers, who
desired to oust Marcos from office, rally in the streets
and clamor for political and social reforms.

Gordz, whose passion for the arts outlived his desire to

pursue an engineering career, brought his talent all the
way to Jordan when his wife, Flora Magdalena, was assigned
in the said country as a member of the diplomatic corps of
the Philippines. Once again, another political issue
stirred new waves of artistic sentiments on his part and
coated most of the themes of his paintings— the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict. Aside from politics and social
injustice, Gordz also opened himself to nature and the
physical environment and used them as his new core subjects
for his works of art. His mastery over ceramics, superb
skill in combining contrasting colors and his cool knack of
converting junk such as match sticks, cigarette butts, and
tobacco leaves into striking embellishments enabled him to
powerfully demonstrate paradoxical ideas as well as display
sufferings, fear, joy, and basic human instincts in his
works. Despite the various meanings that his paintings may
take on, none of them can be absolutely explained by a
single idea. Indeed his works, due to the abstract form
that they take, remain a conundrum that continues to baffle
many people.

He was able to publicly unleash his God-given gift through

three main exhibits that were sponsored by the Philippine
Embassy and the Filipino community in Jordan. The first was
held in Al-Hussein Cultural Center on November 2000, while
the other two (group exhibits) were held at the Philippine
Embassy and in the Zara Expo at Hyatt Hotel in 2002 and
2004 in celebration of the 104th and 106th anniversary of
the proclamation of Philippine Independence, respectively.

Gordz took his talent to a higher level by shifting from

the conventional means of painting to digitalizing his
works through photoshop in January 2010. This new discovery
has earned him a new set of audience- the techie crowd in
facebook and other internet-based social networks.

Although his masterworks somehow reflect the artistic

styles of his favorite Filipino artists like Kiukok,
Ocampo, and Joya, he is proud to say that his works are the
fruits of his own deep and infinite imagination,
experienced execution, and a clear inspiration from God.

Written by: Maria Katrina S. Gorordo

Activity
 Begin by asking students what they learned about digital art.
 Now tell students that they are going to use their creative capabilities to
produce a digital art image.
 Pair students and assign one of the following images to each:
o human
 o flowers
o car
o hat
o large diamond ring
o house
o skyscraper
o double-decker bus
o large tree
o cell phone
 Now ask students to follow these instructions:
o Use the computer application to create your assigned image
o Brainstorm and show your creative side
o Print your image
 After all pairs are finished, allow each to present their image and discuss
the steps they utilized to create the image.