Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 5: Artist-Programmer Era (1970s)
1974
Inaugural SIGGRAPH Conference Held

Occurring during the National Sciences Foundation Workshop on Computer Graphics in Boulder, Colorado, the inaugural SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) conference, held in July 1974, marked a pivotal moment in the intersection of art and technology. Bob Schiffman and Jon Meads organized the event because they decided it had been too long since a dedicated computer graphics conference had been held. They then decided to piggy back on the larger NSF conference. The conference and its subsequent iterations would bring together researchers, artists, and industry professionals to showcase and discuss advancements in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH provided a platform for the exchange of ideas, the presentation of groundbreaking computer-generated artworks and the establishment of a community focused on merging art and technology. The inaugural SIGGRAPH conference set the stage for future conferences and played a crucial role in shaping the history of art and technology, fostering collaboration, innovation, and the growth of computer-generated art.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random.
Sources
People
Movements
computer art, Electronic Art, generative art
Filed under
- Ideas
- collaboration, community, generative art, Technology and Art
- Technologies
- computer art, computer graphics
- People
- Bob Schiffman, Jon Meads
- Works
- Art and Technology, Electronic Art
- Organisations
- National Science Foundation, SIGGRAPH
- Places
- Boulder, Colorado, United States
Echoes across time
- 2004 · Margot Lovejoy Publishes Digital Currents: Art in the Electronic Age
- 2002 · The first Processing Forum
- 1947 · Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Established
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Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 5—Artist-Programmer Era (1970s) with Joan Truckenbrod, Hans Dehlinger & Anika Meier — listen with transcript on Le Random (14 Jan 2024, 65 min). Chapter 5’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify