Coded: Art Enters the Computer Age, 1952–1982 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) explores how the rise of computer technology, together with its emergence in popular consciousness, impacted the making of art in the age of the mainframe. Coded examines the origins of what we now call digital art. The show features artists, writers, musicians, choreographers, and filmmakers working directly with computers as well as those using algorithms and other systems to produce their work.
Coded at LACMA is organized into six thematic and roughly chronological sections and includes over 100 objects made by 75 artists. Some of the highlights are: Edward Kienholz’s The Friendly Grey Computer – Star Gauge Model #54 (1965); Vera Molnár’s À la recherche de Paul Klee (1970); Frederick Hammersley’s “computer drawings” (1969), and Stan VanDerBeek’s film Poemfield No.1 (Blue Version) (1967). The exhibition runs until July 2, 2023.
Coded: Art Enters the Computer Age, 1952-1982 / LACMA, Los Angeles. February 27, 2023.
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Featured artists and works in this video (in order of appearance):
Henri Cartier-Bresson: JFK Space Center, 1967
Lowell Nesbitt: Firing Room, 1969
Lowell Nesbitt: I.B.M. Disc Pack, 1965
Thomas Chimes: IBM Box, 1965; Untitled, 1966
Angelo Testa: IBM Disks, 1952-56
Charles and Ray Eames: Computer House of Cards, 1970
Edward Kienholz: The Friendly Grey Computer – Star Gauge Model #54, 1965
Eduardo Paolozzi: Universal Electronic Vacuum, 1967
Edward Meneeley: IBM Drawings, 1966
Desmond Paul Henry
Frederick Hammersley: Computer Drawings, 1969
Bridget Riley: Polarity, 1964
Frieder Nake: Walk Through Raster, drawings, probably 1967
Jennifer Bartlett: Count, 1972
Jonathan Borofsky: Counting from 1 to 2,941,494, 1969
Manfred Mohr: Cubic Limit, 1973-74
Stan VanDerBeek: Poemfield No. 1 (Blue Version), 1967
Manfred Mohr: P-036 G/White Noise, 1971
Aaron Marcus: Evolving Gravity, 1972/1974; Noise Barrier, 1972/1974
Peter Struycken: PLONS 1972/1974, 1975
Leon D. Harmon and Kenneth C. Knowlton: Studies in Perception I (Alpha Serendipity), 1966/2023
Vera Molnár: À la recherche de Paul Klee, 1970/71
Hiroshi Kawano: Simulated Color Mosaic, 1969
Lillian F. Schwartz with Kenneth C. Knowlton: Pixillation, 1970/2016
Sheila Pinkel: Intuition, 1977
Harold Cohen
Monique Nahas and Hervé Huitric: Cube, 1973
Hans Haacke: News, 1969/2008
Agnes Denes
Sonya Rapoport: Shoe-Field Map, 1982/1985; Shoe-Field, 1986
Joan Truckenbrod: Electronic Patchwork, 1978
Colette Stuebe Bangert and Charles Jeffries Bangert: Grass Series II, 1979-80
Charles Gaines: Walnut Tree Orchard: Set B, 1975
Jean-Pierre Hébert
Sonya Rapoport: Anasazi Series II, 1977
Analivia Cordeiro: M 3×3, 1973
Barbara T. Smith: I Am Abandoned, 1967
Stephen Willats: Homeostat Drawing No. 1, 1969/2023
Waldemar Cordeiro: The Woman Who Is Not B.B., 1971, printed 1973
Charles Csuri: Random War, 1967/2021
Alison Knowles: The House of Dust, 1967
