Abstronic by Mary Ellen Bute

Pioneering work of abstract electronic animation Using an oscilloscope, Bute was the creator of some of the earliest electronically generated images. In 1952, she created the landmark experimental film Abstronic, (a portmanteau of the words “abstract” and “electronic”). Her abstract animations anticipated the upcoming aesthetic language of computer art by incorporating Lissajous curves and geometric abstraction. Bute was captivated by the proposition of drawing with light. She revealed that with only knobs and switches “I can ‘draw’ with a beam of light with as much freedom as with a brush.” In fact, she “would rather use light to draw with instead of making thousands of drawings.” Bute was one of the first people in history to recognize that when a human and electronic instrument collaborate, “the creative possibilities are limitless.”