From: utzoo!utcsrgv!ralph
Newsgroups: net.graphics
Title: Art and C.G.
Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.1071
Posted: Sun Feb 20 00:29:21 1983
Received: Sun Feb 20 02:01:46 1983

I have been reading with interest the discussion about art and c.g. that
has been going on.  I think many good points have been made, and that 
there is still a great deal of disagreement.  I see the latter as a good
thing, since it shows that people's ideas of art and how to make
it are growing and changing.

Re. SIGGRAPH 82:  I thought much of the still art was very interesting, but
was very disappointed with the video [tapes].  Some of these I found to be
visually and sonicly offensive.  It seemed (to me) that the artists where
just throwing sounds and images onto the tape.  A friend characterised
this as "masturbating into the medium".  I think either my views of art, 
or these peoples ways of doing things have to change a lot before I will
think much of this work, as it seems to me that these people really are
masturbating into the medium.

Moving to more general things, I agree with elf in Tarana (Toronto?) that
there are many things that paint programms can do that are not possible
with other media.  Perhaps the problem is that the interfaces to these
systems frequently impede the creative process or the artist can not
afford the bill.  I think that the time is not yet ripe for art and c.g.
to really achieve symbiosis.  The problem is that computer systems are
still primarily designed for technical people, not artists, and fast
systems are still to expensive.

An area where I see some productive working being done, is artists
assisting scientists to present information and ideas better.  Admittedly,
this is not art for art's sake (as this discussion has centred on) but, I
am currently involved in a project that involves extensive interaction
between two graphics artists and five or six computer scientists.
The goal is to improve the visual presentation of program text, but
I have learned a great deal about the tools that graphic artist use.
It is not hard to see that TEX and [device independent] troff, as text
formatters, are hideously inadaquate for the types of things the artists
want to do (and the things I now want to do).  Perhaps, as a result of
interdisciplinary research like this, we (computer scientists) will begin
to produce better tools for the production of visual (or sonic) art, and
will benfit from the knowledge that the artists can share with us.
With luck, either these tools, or out knowledge, will result in better art.

To end on a personnal note, my medium of expression is colour photography -
primarily of landscapes and cityscapes.  I try to keep it well removed from
my work in computer science as I find them to be incompatible.  However, I
do try to use my [limited] understanding of form and composition to help
improve the visual presentation of my work, and to assist me in interfacing
with the artists in the project.  I see this as a case where
knowledge from my artistic life is put to practical use.  I think this is a
key point, evidence, that art really has a place in c.g. at large.

  not an...   Officer and a Gentleman,
  just a...   pseudo-artist and a reformed hack

  ralph hill
  ...!decvax!utzoo!utcsrgv!ralph