Bre Pettis Computer Art Library

A reference shelf for researchers, curators, and the curious — records, books, scanned books, articles, and magazine issues that document the people and ideas behind the works in the collection. Most paper entries link to a downloadable PDF. References are organized by the artist they discuss; a piece that touches more than one artist appears in each section.

The library opens with the record shelf: computer and electronic music was pressed to disc as much as it was printed, from the Illiac Suite and the Bell Labs demonstration records to the ICA's Cybernetic Serendipity LP. Each record links to its catalog entry, and from there to its Discogs release — where there is often audio to listen to.

Books bought whenever possible with the hope of scanning them someday. Internet bitrot is real — PDFs have been collected while doing research on the artists as a way to maintain this information for research and future generations.

188 on the shelf · 147 digital references across 10 artists