A Computer in the Art Room: The Origins of British Computer Arts 1950-1980

Description

The first comprehensive account of the history of media arts in Britain

With a foreword by Clive Richards, Coventry School of Art & Design

Free delivery to mainland Europe & UK

A Computer in the Art Room uncovers and records the history of an artistic practice that is little known and in particular the crucial role played by a number of art schools in fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations which continue to contribute to Britain’s leading role in the education and production of contemporary art.  The complexity and rarity of computers during the period meant that any art form based around them was bound to be a specialised branch of art, highly dependent upon support and funding to exist.  New frameworks for collaboration between arts and sciences were established during this period evident particularly in academic institutions and artist-led initiatives.  A re-organisation of the educational system, an expanded notion of the art object encouraged by the artistic counter-culture of the 1960s and for a brief time, a sympathetic governmental framework enabled art with a techno-scientific basis to flourish particularly within schools of art and design.  The field of early British computer arts with its emphasis on craft, materiality, process and interactivity, is a rare example of inter-disciplinary collaboration within modernism.

The book contains over 140 illustrations, many never before published.  Signed by the author.

“You have done us all proud! Wonderful book, superbly researched, written, designed and produced.” Roy Ascott