Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 5: Artist-Programmer Era (1970s)
1971
Key Tech Developments for Digital Generative Art
1. Intel develops the first commercially produced microprocessor, the Intel 4004. The first of many Intel CPUs.
2. A. Michael Noll develops scanned-display computer graphics
Listen to Peter Bauman’s interview with A. Michael Noll (transcript).
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
Movements
computer art
Filed under
- Ideas
- generative art
- Technologies
- computer art, computer graphics, CPU, Intel 4004, microprocessor, scanned-display computer graphics
- People
- A. Michael Noll
- Organisations
- Intel
Echoes across time
- 1951 · Edmund C. Berkeley Begins Publishing Computers and Automation
- 1950 · Ben Laposky Makes the First Oscillons
- 1952 · Electronic Abstractions by Ben Laposky
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. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- 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