CG170 Historical and Contemporary Issues in Electronic Art - Spring 2002
Instructor: Claudia Cumbie-Jones
TTH 3:15-6:00


Origins and Ideas - Fin de Siecle and 1900s
Read: Chapter 1, Understanding Animation - Wells



20th Century art - relationship to electronic art - the origins of art as idea - psychology, technology, relativity

The origins of electronic art could be traced back as far as cave paintings--the desire to communicate visually has always been with us. However, certain 20th century developments in art and science are critical to an understanding of the unique evolution of electronic art.

1907 - what ideas were current?

film had been invented and portable Lumiere cameras were all over the world gathering moving images.

the airplane had been invented, as had the telephone, telegraph and the transatlantic cable

modern psychology was in it's infancy, with the first discussions of the conscious and the unconscious, the id, ego and superego, and the Jungian archetype.

the theory of relativity had been written as had the theory of Quantum physics, and these ideas would soon challenge the Newtonian view of the universe

Social Realism and Melodrama were the current theatrical genres. Social Realism dealt with issues heretofore unmentionable such as women's rights, syphillis, and incest. Melodrama was highly charged heroic action adventures with lots of special effects, like onstage earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and avalanches. (sound familiar?)

20th century art relates to the history of electronic art in three major ways:

  • content
    - the history of 20th century art is the history of the development of the everyday and the mundane as content - this shift in content is concurrent with the development of mass media, in the form of motion pictures, radio, television, and computer technologies. the debate betweeen "high art and low art" can be traced to the interrelationship of art and media.

  • "art as idea"
    - until the 20th century, art consisted of an object in the form of a painting or sculpture which had the "aura" of being an original by a single artist. the concept of art as idea begins with the idea that anything can be art is the artist says so, and evolves through the use of technology to art as pure idea with no original.

  • "art as process"
    - 20th century art is also the development of art as a process, rather than a product. this has influenced the time-based art forms of theatre, motion pictures, video and computer animation. it is particularly influential in computer art using programming as the sole means of generation.

    We will start with Picasso in order to trace the origins of how our perception on the computer has been shaped by 20th century artists.



    Cubism - Analytic, Synthetic
  • cubism - differences in perception, simultaneity of perspective

  • Pablo Picasso - Les Demoiselles D'Avignon - 1907
    first "cubist" painting - original study was in a brothel--use of so-called "primitive" influences due to major exhibition of African masks at the time--basic formal tenet was the viewing of object from multiple perspectives--revolutionary in form and content

    how does it relate? the viewing of objects from multiple perspectives is a fundamental design prinicple in every 3-d computer animation software interface. In this software, the artist is asked to interact SIMULTANEOUSLY from a top, front, and right orthographic view, and from a perspective view.

    how does it relate conceptually? the clash of "primitive vs. civilized" is a fundamental concept running through literature and into film and television--Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Incredible Hulk, the Terminator.

  • Marcel DuChamp - Nude Descending a Staircase - 1912
    influence of Muybridge and motion pictures--a motion study--can be viewed as "keyframes" formal approach is still multple perspective, but over time and space

  • Georges Braque
  • Georges Braque - House at L'Estaque - 1908 Harbor in Normandy - 1909
    Man with a Guitar - 1911
    more of the same--content not critically important, except in the use of the everyday and the mundane--different from 19th century perspective of "important art" ---famous people famous events famous literary references again, there is a simultaneity of perspectives--also helps to realize that this is concurrent with Einstein's Theory of Relativity, with motion picture and early radio technology, and with Freud's theory of psychoanalysis



  • Pablo Picasso - Still Life with Chair Caning - 1911-12
    use of collage (one of the first) technique picked up later by dadaists and surrealists - everyday objects, wallpaper, oilcloth, rope --debate begins between high and low art