Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet
Harold Cohen’s Legacy in AI Art
Harold Cohen was already an established painter when he started experimenting with computers in the late 1960s. He began building AARON, a rudimentary AI that could draw semi-autonomously. Unlike today’s AI image generators, which make pictures based on analyzing real images, AARON’s drawings were based purely on the mathematical rules Cohen programmed. Over the years, he continued to improve AARON, teaching it to draw with imprecise strokes to mimic a human hand, to detect shapes and shade them in, and even to physically draw with the help of a device called a "turtle" that would scurry across the canvas making marks.
A Parable for Today’s Artists
Cohen’s story looks like a parable for today’s artists. With the rapid development of technology, many are anxious about its impact on their work. However, Cohen’s story shows that an artist can neither dominate nor fear technology, but rather grow alongside it. His collaboration with AARON resulted in beautiful, abstract pieces that could be mistaken for a child’s drawing of a fantastical map.
Tate Modern’s New Exhibition
The Tate Modern’s new exhibition, Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet, brings together the work of over 70 artists who were inspired by and created art with technology between the end of World War II and the dawn of the internet in the early 1990s. The exhibition provides an intriguing precedent for the conversations playing out in the art world today.
A Look Back at the Past
The exhibition also shines a spotlight on the influential 1968 exhibition Cybernetic Serendipity at London’s ICA, the first large-scale exhibition dedicated to the computer as both medium and inspiration. Footage from the show displays moving sculptures, video synthesizers, and a rather dated-looking robot that resembles an off-brand Dalek.
Art Inspired by Math
Art inspired by math sounds like it might be cold, austere, and inaccessible. However, the New Tendencies artists saw their work as a way to make complex scientific ideas digestible, arresting, even beautiful. "You don’t need to think about what you’re seeing, it catches you and acts within your synapses first," says curator Val Ravaglia. "You enjoy the form first, then the rest comes later."
The Exhibition’s Highlights
The exhibition features a range of works, including Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss’s "Liquid Views" (1992), which divides an artwork into 12 squares, each containing a blurry, distorted photographic image of a single person or two people. Another standout is Samia Halaby’s kinetic painting "Fold 2" (1988), which features geometric shapes and dynamic lines in vivid colors.
Interactivity and Immersion
Much of the work in the exhibition hits the senses first. David Medalla’s "Sand Machines" drags beads across a patch of sand to create an ever-changing Zen garden, while Brion Gysin’s "Dreamachine" is a revolving lamp that creates optical patterns if you stare at it with your eyes closed. The "Square Tops" sculpture by Wen-Ying Tsai undulates with lights that change frequency in response to the sound made by the people in the room.
Conclusion
The exhibition shows that artists have long been early adopters of new technologies, evolving single works as technology developed. The themes presented in this exhibition are more relevant today than ever, as artists grapple with the impact of technology on their work. As Harold Cohen’s story demonstrates, an artist can neither dominate nor fear technology, but rather grow alongside it.
FAQs
Q: What is the name of the AI that Harold Cohen built?
A: AARON
Q: What is the name of the exhibition at the Tate Modern?
A: Electric Dreams: Art and Technology Before the Internet
Q: When does the exhibition open?
A: November 28
Q: How long does the exhibition run?
A: Until June 1
