MOMA visit

The Thinking Machines: Art and Design in the Computer Age, 1959–1989 brings artworks produced using computers and computational thinking together with notable examples of computer and component design. I think this exhibition shows the history of exploiting computer machines and these technologies show how advanced the machines are at the age of most people did not aware of. There are plotter drawings, computer animations, and video installations.

The hummingbird is one of the earliest computer animated films. Over thirty thousand individual images generated by a computer were drawn directly on film using a microfilm plotter. Csuri explained, “the programs were written to read all the controlling parameters from cards, one card for each frame.” I was shocked that computer could did the drawing in 1960s.

Another work I like is the computer graphic drawing called Starpath. The pattern it drew is really good looking. Since now I am learning codes, I think I can try make codes that do the similar drawing.

The exhibition trace how computers transformed aesthetics and hierarchies, revealing how these thinking machines reshaped art making, working life, and social connections.

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