V & A Pattern: Digital Pioneers
Honor Beddard & Douglas Dodds
In the years that followed World War Two, access to computers ceased to be restricted solely to the military. As they became more accessible in Laboratories and universities, a small group of scientists and programmers were joined by artists and designers who began to realize the creative potential of the new technology. Computer offered the opportunity to explore innovative ways of creating images that would demonstrate a hitherto unexpected purity in their natural patterning, symmetry and order. The earliest work in this selection, Oscillon 40(1952, plate 1), was actually produced on an analogue cathode-ray oscilloscope. The artist, Ben Laposky, manipulated the electronic wave forms displayed on the screen and then photographed the result. Laposky created some of the first graphics generated using an electronic machine and helped to pave the way for the truly digital pioneers who followed. Herbert Franke also used analogue equipment to produce some of his early works, but went on to exploit the capabilities of the emerging digital computer technology.
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