Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 3: Analog Era (1950s)
1952
Electronic Abstractions by Ben Laposky
The Origins of Computer Art
This series of experimental artworks by Ben Laposky was generated on analogue equipment by photographing oscilloscope patterns created by electronic circuits. He called these resulting images “Oscillons.” These works are among the earliest examples of electronically generated images. In 1953, Laposky exhibited fifty Oscillons as photographs, kinetic oscilloscope displays, light boxes and movies at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
- Popper, Frank. Art of the Electronic Age, 78. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1997.
People
Movements
computer art, generative art, Oscillographic Art
Filed under
- Ideas
- Analog Computer Art, generative art, photography
- Technologies
- computer art, computer graphics, kinetic art, oscilloscope
- People
- Ben Laposky
- Works
- Electronic Abstractions, Electronic Art, Oscillons
- Organisations
- Sanford Museum
- Places
- Cherokee, Iowa, Iowa, United States
- Other subjects
- Laposky
Related moments
- 1956 · Ben Laposky Releases Colored Electronic Image
- 1956 · Herbert W. Franke Begins Creating Art with an Oscillograph
Echoes across time
- 2013 · Jerobeam Fenderson and Hansi3D Begin Oscilloscope Music
- 1990 · Publications
- 1970 · Generación Automática de Formas Plásticas Exhibition at the Centro de Cálculo of the University of Madrid
Le Random editorials
Le Random podcast
- 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