Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 5: Artist-Programmer Era (1970s)

1971

Frieder Nake’s Publicly Announces End to Computer Art Practice

Publication

The plotter graphic that accompanies Nake's 1971 essay — a dense radiating field of repeated marks set between a photographed head and a pair of feet, captioned 'The Emperor hath clothes?'.
The plotter graphic that accompanies Nake's 1971 essay — a dense radiating field of repeated marks set between a photographed head and a pair of feet, captioned 'The Emperor hath clothes?'. Illustration to Frieder Nake, 'There Should Be No Computer Art', PAGE 18, bulletin of the Computer Arts Society, October 1971. Digital Art Museum (dam.org).

With his article, “There Should Be No Computer Art,” Nake announced the end of his work with the medium of computers. The essay mirrored the growing pessimism surrounding technology and thus technology and art prevailing in the early ’70s. Ultimately, the essay advocates for the recognition and celebration of human artistic agency and the unique qualities that only human artists can bring to the creative process.

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

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People

Frieder Nake

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computer art

Filed under

Ideas
agency, Anti-Technology Art, Technology and Art
Technologies
computer art
People
Frieder Nake
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There Should Be No Computer Art

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