Francesca Franco - Böcker

In this unique book the author explores the history of pioneering computer art and its contribution to art history by way of examining Ernest Edmonds’ art from the late 1960s to the present day. Edmonds’ inventions of new concepts, tools and forms of art, along with his close involvement with the communities of computer artists, constructive artists and computer technologists, provides the context for discussion of the origins and implications of the relationship between art and technology. Drawing on interviews with Edmonds and primary research in archives of his work, the book offers a new contribution to the history of the development of digital art and places Edmonds’ work in the context of contemporary art history.

In this unique book the author explores the history of pioneering computer art and its contribution to art history by way of examining Ernest Edmonds’ art from the late 1960s to the present day. Edmonds’ inventions of new concepts, tools and forms of art, along with his close involvement with the communities of computer artists, constructive artists and computer technologists, provides the context for discussion of the origins and implications of the relationship between art and technology. Drawing on interviews with Edmonds and primary research in archives of his work, the book offers a new contribution to the history of the development of digital art and places Edmonds’ work in the context of contemporary art history.

Fifty years after the first experiments in computational art, international interest in the history of this subject remains strong and at the same time almost uncovered. This book began with the exhibition Algorithmic Signs, which was conceived, researched and curated by Francesca Franco in Venice in 2017.  The origins of the exhibition included a series of meetings that gathered together the most celebrated international pioneers in the world of digital arts and the rare opportunity to interview them in their studios.Francesca Franco explores the history of computer art and its contribution to the broader field of contemporary art from the 1960s to the present. It is illustrated by the creative work of five of the most influential pioneers of computer art - Ernest Edmonds, Manfred Mohr, Vera Molnár, Frieder Nake, and Roman Verostko and includes the full visual documentation of the exhibition.The Algorithmic Dimension - Five Artists in Conversation offersmore than a theoretical perspective; it offers readers the rare opportunity to hear the histories and developments of the fascinating art, created through the algorithm, in an accessible and stimulating narrative. The personal achievements of each artist are followed, including their original inspirations, and how they develop in parallel with technological advances. It also brings together for the first time the artists' common ideas and differences, and tales about how their paths have crossed over the years.

This book provides an exciting historiography of Creative Computing and Computational Art at the Venice Biennale, from 1970 to 2015.Four contemporary artists (Simon Pope, Tamiko Thiel, Joseph Nechvatal and Fré Ilgen) discuss art, science and technology-based work that they have exhibited at the Venice Biennale in recent years. Multimedia producer and writer, Maureen Kendal, discusses the work of Orly Aviv at the 2015 Venice Biennale, and curator Francesca Franco interviews computer art pioneer Frieder Nake about his early participation in the Venice Biennale. Additional interviews with media artist and theorist Paul Thomas and digital culture advocate Maria Grazia Mattei offer further reflections on the evolving relationship between art and technology, both within and beyond the Biennale context.Francesca Franco, who has published extensively on the history of art, science and technology at the Venice Biennale, also contributes an introductory chapter that summarises and contextualises each of the contributions and an additional chapter on the 1970 Biennale’s central exhibition that featured – for the very first time in the history of this institution – what have now been acknowledged as some of the most influential and inspiring computer artworks in the history of this field.