Computer Art No More

Event · North America

The front cover of Frank Popper's Art of the Electronic Age, published in 1993 — the book behind the record's claim that 'computer art' had by then become one electronic art form among many. Cover of Frank Popper, Art of the Electronic Age (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1993). Internet Archive.

According to Art Historian Frank Popper, by 1993, the term “computer art” had evolved from a distinct category to simply one of many electronic art forms. Grant Taylor’s observations in When the Machine Made Art highlight this shift, citing the emergence of the New York Digital Salon in 1993 as a watershed moment in the transition from “computer” to “digital” art. As discussed, in the previous chapter, the term began falling out of favor in late 1980s. The term was in retreat by 1993, though it remained in institutional use: the New York Digital Salon’s own 1993 founding statement described the venture as a venue for the exhibition of computer art.

Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.