Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 3: Analog Era (1950s)
1959
CalComp 565 Drum Plotter Released
One of the earliest computer graphics output devices sold and the first drum plotter printer, the CalComp 565 could produce large-scale drawings with precise lines, becoming a popular tool for computer artists. CalComp would come to dominate the plotter market by the end of the next decade, proving to be indispensable to the development of computer art.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Movements
computer art
Filed under
- Ideas
- drawing, market, tools
- Technologies
- CalComp 565, computer art, computer graphics, drum plotter, plotter, Plotter Art
- Organisations
- CalComp
Echoes across time
- 1985 · Mark Wilson, Skew J17
- 1985 · Emerging Expressions at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York
- 1989 · Kid Pix Empowers Young Creativity
Le Random editorials
- Sarah Meyohas on Irreducibly Human, Peter Bauman, July 14, 2025
- Colette Bangert on Growing Visually, Peter Bauman, May 7, 2024
- Copper Giloth on Video Games to Video Art, Peter Bauman, September 22, 2025
- Gendering Systems, Vienna Kim, August 15, 2024
Le Random podcast
- Elevating the Generative Art Space (Launch Episode) with Casey Reas, ciphrd, Anne Spalter, Anika Meier & Georg Bak — listen with transcript on Le Random (28 Jun 2023, 52 min). Transcript mentions plotter. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 1—Pre-Modern Era with Marius Watz — listen with transcript on Le Random (06 Jul 2023, 46 min). Transcript mentions plotter. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 2—Modern Era with Kate Vass — listen with transcript on Le Random (20 Jul 2023, 58 min). Transcript mentions plotter. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 3—Analog Era (1950s) with Georg Bak — listen with transcript on Le Random (10 Aug 2023, 65 min). Chapter 3’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify