20th Century Computer Art at Tama Art University Museum, Tokyo

The rise of educational tooling for artists in the first half of the decade, as we have covered, such as Processing and openFrameworks served the main purpose of making it easier for artists to create works using software. This increased accessibility—also due to the maturing Internet—led to increased interest, artistic output and, ultimately, academic and institutional importance, as demonstrated by this exhibition at a museum associated with a university. The show closely examined and reevaluated the history of computer art and is especially important in celebrating the contribution of many Japanese artists as well as indicating a rising level of interest in the country and the region. 20th Century Computer Art: Beginnings and Developments. The Work and Thought of Pioneers and Contemporary Practitioners of Algorithmic Art at Tama Art University Museum in Tokyo, Japan, displayed over 250 works combining historic and contemporary computer art mostly from Japan. Contributing Japanese artists included Hiroshi Kawano, Elichi Izuhara, Koji Kusabuka, Chihaya Shimomura, Akihiro Kubota, Computer Technique Group, Masao Kohmura, Yoshiyuki Abe and Atsuhiko Iwakoshi. International contributors were Georg Nees, Herbert W. Franke, Frieder Nake, Eugen Roth, Wolfgang Kiwus, A. Michael Noll, Harold Cohen, Manfred Mohr, Edward Zajec, Roman Verostko, Vera Molnar, Erwin Steller, Hervé Huitric, Monique Nahas and Manuel Barbadillo.