Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

art and the computer 25In the early days of microcomputer programming, arraystended to be used as an all-purpose data structure for storinginformation read from files. Today, since there are morestructured and flexible ways to store and retrieve such data,arrays are now mainly used for small sets of data (such aslook-up tables).Further ReadingJensen, Ted. “A Tutorial on Pointers and Arrays in C.” Availableonline. URL: http://pw2.netcom.com/~tjensen/ptr/pointers.htm. Accessed April 12, 2007.Sebesta, Robert W. Concepts of Programming Languages. 8th ed.Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2008.art and the computerWhile the artistic and technical temperaments are oftenviewed as opposites, the techniques of artists have alwaysshown an intimate awareness of technology, including thephysical characteristics of the artist’s tools and media. Thedevelopment of computer technology capable of generating,manipulating, displaying, or printing images has offered avariety of new tools for existing artistic traditions, as wellas entirely new media and approaches.Computer art began as an offshoot of research into imageprocessing or the simulation of visual phenomena, such asby researchers at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, duringthe 1960s. One of these researchers, A. Michael Noll,applied computers to the study of art history by simulatingtechniques used by painters Piet Mondrian and BridgetRiley in order to gain a better understanding of them. Inaddition to exploring existing realms of art, experimentersbegan to create a new genre of art, based on the ideas ofMax Bense, who coined the terms “artificial art” and “generativeesthetics.” Artists such as Manfred Mohr studiedcomputer science because they felt the computer could providethe tools for an esthetic strongly influenced by mathematicsand natural science. For example, Mohr’s P-159/A(1973) used mathematical algorithms and a plotting deviceto create a minimalistic yet rich composition of lines. Otherartists working in the minimalist, neoconstructivist, andconceptual art traditions found the computer to be a compellingtool for exploring the boundaries of form.By the 1980s, the development of personal computersmade digital image manipulation available to a much widergroup of people interested in artistic expression, includingthe more conventional realms of representational art andphotography. Programs such as Adobe Photoshop blend artand photography, making it possible to combine imagesfrom many sources and apply a variety of transformationsto them. The use of computer graphics algorithms makerealistic lighting, shadow, and fog effects possible to a muchgreater degree than their approximation in traditionalmedia. Fractals can create landscapes of infinite textureand complexity. The computer has thus become a standardtool for both “serious” and commercial artists.Artificial intelligence researchers have developed programsthat mimic the creativity of human artists. For example,a program called Aaron developed by Harold CohenAir, created by Lisa Yount with the popular image-editing programAdobe Photoshop, is part of a group of photocollages honoring theancient elements of earth, air, water, and fire. The “wings” in thecenter are actually the two halves of a mussel shell. (Lisa Yount)can adapt and extend existing styles of drawing and painting.Works by Aaron now hang in some of the world’s mostdistinguished art museums.An impressive display of the “state of the computer art”could be seen at a digital art exhibition that debuted inBoston at the SIGGRAPH 2006 conference. More than 150artists and researchers from 16 countries exhibited workand discussed its implications. Particularly interestingwere dynamic works that interacted with visitors and theenvironment, often blurring the distinction between digitalarts and robotics. In the future, sculptures may changewith the season, time of day, or the presence of people inthe room, and portraits may show moods or even conversewith viewers.Implications and ProspectsWhile traditional artistic styles and genres can be reproducedwith the aid of a computer, the computer has thepotential to change the basic paradigms of the visual arts.The representation of all elements in a composition in digitalform makes art fluid in a way that cannot be matched