Computers and Automation, Vol. 15 No. 8 (August 1966) — Fourth Annual Computer Art Contest

Notes

Berkeley Enterprises, Newtonville MA, August 1966. 52 pp., OCR'd scan from bitsavers.org (Computers_And_Automation/196608.pdf), the source link. The Annual Computer Art Contest of "Computers and Automation": pp. 8–13. Cover: Frieder Nake's untitled first-prize drawing: hundreds of small hollow plotter-drawn squares scattered in irregular clusters and drifts across the page, with the plotter lettering 'NAKE/ER56/Z64' at lower right, labelled 'Computer Art Contest First Prize'; the contents page describes it as 'some computer art from Stuttgart, Germany'. The fourth contest leads a 'Special Feature: The Computer in the Arts' and runs six pages (8-13) under the heading 'The Annual Computer Art Contest of "Computers and Automation"'. First prize goes to Frieder Nake of Stuttgart, Germany, for the cover drawing, 'the result of producing uniform small squares with a kind of regular irregularity specifically suitable to a computer's patience' - Nake's first appearance in the magazine and the first prize to go outside the United States. The cover carries his plotter-lettered signature 'NAKE/ER56/Z64'. Three more Nake drawings appear on pages 8 and 12. The editors state that 'all the other computer art drawings published in this issue receive honorable mention' and that the contest will run again next year. The honorable mentions show the spread of hardware. Maughan S. Mason of Huntsville, Alabama sends two 'Silk Patterns' generated 'by an analog computer with an X-Y plotter output', the India-ink originals 30 inches long. Peter Milojedic of McGill University contributes 'Cubic Figures' and 'Ellipses and Circles', on a Calcomp 565. C. K. Messinger (China Lake) plots a modulated 'Logarithmic Spiral'. L. W. Barnum of EG&G, Las Vegas, offers 'Ellipse by Error', a Lissajous figure 'accidentally generated' when an indexing slip made the angular step grow over 1,256 points, on a CalComp 565 driven by a CDC 160A. D. K. Robbins of Sandia Corp. closes with 'Rosette', 'a modification of a solution to a problem in calculus', on a CalComp plotter. No entry count is given. First prize: Frieder Nake, Stuttgart, Germany - untitled drawing of 'uniform small squares with a kind of regular irregularity specifically suitable to a computer's patience' (machine not stated; cover bears plotter lettering NAKE/ER56/Z64). Also: Honorable mention (all other drawings in the issue): 'Another drawing entered by Frieder Nake' (p. 8) and two more untitled Nake drawings (p. 12); Honorable mention: 'Silk Patterns' (two drawings) from Maughan S. Mason, Huntsville, Alabama - analog computer with X-Y plotter, India ink, one dimension 30 inches (p. 9); Honorable mention: 'Cubic Figures' (two) by Peter Milojedic, McGill University - Calcomp 565 Plotter (p. 10); Honorable mention: 'Logarithmic Spiral' by C. K. Messinger, China Lake, Calif. (p. 11); Honorable mention: 'Ellipse by Error' by L. W. Barnum, EG&G, Inc., Las Vegas - CalComp 565 driven by a CDC 160A (p. 11); Honorable mention: 'Ellipses and Circles' by Peter Milojedic, McGill University (p. 13); Honorable mention: 'Rosette' by D. K. Robbins, Sandia Corp., Albuquerque - CalComp plotter (p. 13). Artists and works as credited: Frieder Nake - Stuttgart, Germany - untitled first-prize drawing of small squares (cover; miniature p. 8); 'Another drawing entered by Frieder Nake' (p. 8); two further untitled drawings (p. 12) - machine not stated (cover lettering NAKE/ER56/Z64) · Maughan S. Mason - Huntsville, Alabama 35802 - 'Silk Patterns' (two drawings) - analog computer with an X-Y plotter output, originals in black India ink, one dimension 30 inches long · Peter Milojedic - McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada - 'Cubic Figures' (two drawings); 'Ellipses and Circles' - Calcomp 565 Plotter made by California Computer Products · C. K. Messinger - China Lake, Calif. 93555 - 'Logarithmic Spiral' (a modulated logarithmic spiral in the first quadrant) - machine not stated · L. W. Barnum - EG&G, Inc., Las Vegas, Nev. 89101 - 'Ellipse by Error' - CalComp 565 driven by a CDC 160A · D. K. Robbins - Sandia Corp., Albuquerque, N.M. - 'Rosette' - CalComp plotter made by California Computer Products. Rest of the issue: Special Feature 'The Computer in the Arts' continues with 'The Computer in Musical Composition' by Professor Gerald Strang (p. 16). Other articles: 'Critical Evaluation of Software Packages' by Carl Hammer (p. 20); 'Information: Dilemma or Deliverance?' by Walter W. Finke (p. 22); 'Zip, Buzz, Whir, Clonk: Computers Botch Up Some of Their Jobs' by Lee Berton, reprinted from the Wall Street Journal (p. 28). Editorial 'Computer Application Failures' by Berkeley (p. 7); market report on programming as a creative effort (p. 14); capital report by James Titus (p. 15); throughput by Dick Brandon (p. 30); Newsletter (p. 31); Computer Census (p. 46); New Patents by Raymond R. Skolnick (p. 48).