Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 4: Digital Era (1960s)
1961
Grand tir–séance Galerie J by Niki de Saint Phalle

This convention-defying work of chance art saw Saint Phalle create an assemblage of white, found objects, surrounded by sacks of colored paint. She would then fire a rifle at the paint sacks to explosively create the work. A fascinating example of the ingenuity and breadth of generative art, the rifle plays a decisive role in the system that ultimately creates the art and could thus be considered an autonomous system.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
Movements
Chance Art, generative art, Material Generative Art
Filed under
- Ideas
- autonomy, chance, Chance Art, generative art, Material Generative Art, performance
- People
- Niki de Saint Phalle
- Works
- Assemblage, Grand tir–séance Galerie J
- Organisations
- Galerie J
Echoes across time
- 1897 · Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard (A Throw of the Dice will Never Abolish Chance) by Stéphane Mallarmé
- 1917 · Untitled [Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance] by Hans Arp
- 1934 · The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Green Box) (La Mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires, même [Boîte verte] ) by Marcel Duchamp
Le Random editorials
Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 4—Digital Era Pt I (1960s) with Dr A Michael Noll — listen with transcript on Le Random (07 Sep 2023, 60 min). Chapter 4’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 4—Digital Era Pt II (1960s) with Michael Spalter — listen with transcript on Le Random (21 Sep 2023, 77 min). Chapter 4’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify