The first historical survey of Canada’s rich contributions to first-generation computer art, Computational Arts in Canada 1967-1974 assembles an impressive array of animated films, videos, plotter drawings, digital paintings, computer-generated silk-screen prints, and interactive teletype printouts capturing the remarkable diversity of activity during this period of creative ferment and technical innovation. The exhibition shines a light on groundbreaking computer visualizations as well as language-based experiments by Greg Curnoe and the Vancouver-based conceptual enterprise N.E. Thing Co. Ltd. (a.k.a. NETCO). Curnoe’s Computer Journals and the work of experimental filmmaker (and Western University emeritus professor) Alexander Keewatin (“Kee”) Dewdney firmly anchor broader histories in a London, Ontario context by highlighting the interdisciplinary collaborations between artists and researchers facilitated by Western’s Department of Computer Science under the visionary leadership of former chair John Hart. Computational Arts in Canada also illuminates the achievements of women artists in this historically male-dominated field, including Suzanne Duquet—a long-time UQÀM professor of painting who made repeated visits to Western as an artist-in-residence—and the multidisciplinary Web art innovator Vera Frenkel.

McIntosh Gallery, 2020.
ISBN: 9780771431425. 84 pp.
Softcover. New.