Tag Archives: 1960s

prostheticknowledge:

Mona By The Numbers

Probably the earliest example of computer-generated text art, put together in 1964 by H. Philip Peterson:
In 1964, H. Philip Peterson of Control Data Corporation (CDC) used a CDC 3200 computer and a “flying-spot” scanner to create a digital representation of the Mona Lisa. The image contained 100,000 pixels that were plotted using numerals, sometimes overprinted, to approximate the required density and took 14 hours to complete.

Similar digital images of popular art, cartoon characters, and even nudes adorned the walls of corporate offices, labs, and computer centers throughout the 1960s.

You can find out more about the ‘Digital Mona Lisa’ here, and there is an online viewer for closer inspection here

Keyboard layouts for the APL programming language, which uses symbols instead of words. It was based on EBCDIC and APL had its own set of symbols which in the 1960s was tricky for many screens, printers and platforms to deal with. Nowadays Unicode mostly supports it.

Theory of Relativity , Protocol Sentences and Memory Matrix by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, 1967.

Nude aka Computer Nudes aka Studies in Perception by Ken Knowlton and Leon Harmon, 1966. While this is often called the first ASCII art piece, it doesn’t use any ASCII characters, and it was preceded by for example Digital Mona Lisa (1964).

Some hi-res scans here, thx to chicasyordinadores 4 the link. Also see this.

PlayPlax, a construction toy invented by Patrick Rylands for Trendon Toys, 1966.

Computergraphic by Béla Julesz, 1965. Probably made for the first exhibition of computer graphics in USA, Computer-Generated Pictures (1965), together with A. Michael Noll (both working at Bell Labs at the time).

Sample page from blewointment magazine 1967 featuring poems by Earle Birney and David Frith as well as event listings for Alan Neil Trio and an ad for a bpNichol book.

Hammerons by Pressman, a building set from the 1960s, via.

Polka Doodles peg board toy by the Lisbeth Whiting Company circa 1965.

zonezonezone:

DadamainoComposizione Ottica (1965)