Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 4: Digital Era (1960s)
1963
Simulation of a Two-Gyro Gravity-Gradient Attitude Control System by Edward E. Zajac
Constructed by Zajac at Bell Labs, this is frequently credited as the first computer animation.
Zajac’s Gyro Gravity Gradient Attitude Control System is a study of satellite motion, showing how one could always have a side facing earth during orbit. Zajac programmed the frames in Fortran on an IBM 7090, the same Device A. Michael Noll used to produce his early plotted works.
Listen to Peter Bauman’s interview with A. Michael Noll (transcript).
Image courtesy of the artist and SIGGRAPH.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
- Noll, A. Michael. "Early Digital Computer Art at Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated." Leonardo 49, no. 1 (2016): 55-65.
People
A. Michael Noll, Edward E. Zajac
Movements
computer animation, computer art
Filed under
- Ideas
- simulation
- Technologies
- computer animation, computer art, Fortran, IBM 7090, Plotter Art
- People
- A. Michael Noll, Edward E. Zajac
- Exhibitions
- Programmed
- Organisations
- Bell Labs, SIGGRAPH
Related moments
- 1957 · John Backus Releases FORTRAN
- 1962 · A. Michael Noll Creates some of the First Creative Graphics with a Digital Computer; Terms Phrase Programmer-Artist
Echoes across time
- 1983 · Jim Blinn receives the first (1983) ACM SIGGRAPH CG Achievement Award
- 1981 · Carla’s Island by Nelson Max
- 1982 · Computer Rendering of Stochastic Models by Alain Fournier, Don Fussell, Loren Carpenter
Le Random editorials
- A. Michael Noll on When It All Started, A. Michael Noll, March 25, 2025
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). Featuring A. Michael Noll. 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