A Critical History of Computer Graphics and Animation

Section 9: Computer Artists of the above course from Ohio State University includes references to Cybernetic Serendipity. In particular it provides a link to a speech by Jasia Reichardt in 2004 which discusses the background to the exhibition. According to the text, she must have been referring to slides which were not included on the site. Perhaps some of these are the same slides she presented in Banff.

The complete course, by the way, is still available. It has images and Quicktime movies of early computer art. I will refer to specific sections as I find artists who appeared in Cybernetic Serendipity. In the meantime, Section 9 has art from Lillian Schwartz, David Em, and some marvellous Quicktime movies from Larry Cuba.

Cybernetic Serendipity

Cybernetic Serendipity is both an exhibition held in 1968 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, in London, and a book published to accompany the exhibition [1]. This exhibition brought together many of the artists who were the first to use computers as a tool to produce art. The book is available in many libraries (a search in Google Scholar will find some, but not all, of the copies; you can also search in the WorldCat box to the left) and from booksellers. In this, and subsequent entries, I will list websites where information may be found about the exhibition and the artists who took part.

Jasia Reichardt organized the exhibition and edited the book. She recently appeared at REFRESH! The First International Conference on the Histories of Media Art, Science and Technology at the Banff New Media Institute and, to accompany her speech, presented slides of some of the artwork included in the 1968 exhibit. Her presentation (one of many on this page) gives some idea of the variety of the work but it seemed to me that she downplayed the significance of Cybernetic Serendipity. Perhaps that is because the people attending the conference would have already acknowledged the place that exhibit had in the history of electronic/digital/computer art.

Since the purpose of this blog (when I am thinking seriously about its purpose) is to search the web for memories and evidence, I am going to try to find other websites which present information on the artworks and artists from Cybernetic Serendipity.

The press release for the exhibition, along with a few images, can be found at Medien Kunst Netz/Media Art Net.
[Jan. 3/07 -This link is not working. A Google search should find other useful resources.]

1. Cybernetic Serendipity: the Computer and the Arts. Edited by Jasia Reichardt. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1969, p. [3]. The 1968 edition was published in London by Studio International. Any information found in the book which I will refer to is taken from the Praeger edition.