CAS-Xtra 24 June 08

CAS members are invited to the London BOOK LAUNCH of

A Computer in the Art Room:
the origins of British computer arts 1950-80
by Catherine Mason
with a Foreword by Professor Clive Richards, Coventry School of
Art & Design
published by JJG: 2008

Central London launch of this new publication on the evening of
Tuesday 24th June

As availability is strictly limited, admission is for CAS members
by invitation only. If you would like to attend, please email
your postal address to [log in to unmask] and an
invitation will be sent to you with further details.

If you are not yet a member of CAS, please sign up (it's free!)
at JISC:

Go to http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk
Open an account
Join list CAS
(you may also be interested to join list DASH - Digital ArtS
Histories)

About the book:

Based on four years of research and numerous interviews with
practitioners, this book uncovers the little known history of
early British computer art. A number of art schools played a
crucial role in fostering these important cross-disciplinary
digital collaborations. These are described for the first time
here, along with over 140 illustrations, many not seen in print
before. The book introduces British artists in the post-war
period who were inspired by science and began to consider the use
of computing. They found the requisite technology and expertise
at innovative art schools including the Royal College of Art, the
Slade School of Art, Leicester Polytechnic, Middlesex Polytechnic
and Coventry Art School. A direct link is traced from tutor to
student through the British art school system. This was a unique
period in which art students could learn to program computers and
construct their own hardware, before the onset of PCs and
user-friendly systems.

About the author:

Catherine Mason began researching the history of British computer
arts at Birkbeck, University of London with the CACHe Project
(Computer Arts, Contexts, Histories, etc.), funded by the UK’s
Arts & Humanities Research Council. In 2006 she produced Bits in
Motion, a screening of early British computer animation, at
London’s National Film Theatre. She has contributed to Futures
Past: Twenty Years of Arts Computing published by Intellect, 2007
and White Heat, Cold Logic: British Computer Art 1960-1980,
forthcoming MIT Press.

Look out for a special offer price for CAS members in the coming
weeks

1968 to 2008 = CAS 40 - 40 years of supporting the computer arts

http://www.computer-arts-society.org

====
Paul Brown - based in the UK May - June 2007
mailto:[log in to unmask] == http://www.paul-brown.com
UK Mobile +44 (0)794 104 8228 == USA fax +1 309 216 9900
Skype paul-g-brown
====
Visiting Professor - Sussex University
http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/ccnr/research/creativity.html
====