Panel Statement

Panel: Archiving Digital Heritage

Keywords: Proto-computational Arts, Algorithmic Devices, Early Computers, Geraldo de Barros, Jose Oiticica Filho

How Geraldo de Barros obtained abstract photographs using disposed punched cards makes evident that the origins of the interaction between algorithmic devices and the arts are deep and there is a clear need to describe the visual artifacts, and the historical and technological contexts as well to better understand his work. José Oiticica Filho and de Barros expanded the use of photography beyond the camera operation focusing on experiments in the darkroom. I have proposed that Geraldo de Barros must be recognized as a pioneer of computational arts “because he developed a method for using punched cards instead of the negative Film in the darkroom, exposing the photographic paper several times while changing the distance of the enlarger lens to the photographic paper in order to magnify or minimize the size of the rectangles through which the light would pass creating complex abstract compositions in the photographic paper”.

• Andrés Burbano, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia. “Burbano, originally from Colombia, explores the interactions of science, art and technology in various capacities: as a researcher, as an individual artist and in collaborations with other artists and designers. Burbano’s work ranges from documentary video (in both science and art), sound and telecommunication art to the exploration of algorithmic cinematic narratives. The broad spectrum of his work illustrates the importance indeed, the prevalence- of interdisciplinary collaborative work in the field of digital art”. Andres Burbano is doctor in Media Arts and Technology from the University of California Santa Barbara, USA. Burbano is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Design at Universidad de los Andes and is Academic Chair of ISEA2017 and Gallery Chair of Siggraph 2018.

Full text (PDF) p. 743-746