Portrait of the Artist As a Young Computer by Grace Glueck

As Grant Taylor points out, the title of this essay by art critic Grace Glueck in the New York Times is both a nod to James Joyce “as well as a parallel to the first article that pushed computerized art into the realm of popular culture: John R. Pierce’s 1965 Playboy article entitled ‘Portrait of the Machine As a Young Artist.’” Taylor continues by quoting Glueck’s opening: “‘Given what we’ve seen of it to date, it’s small wonder that when we hear the term “computer art” our attention begins to wander. By now we’ve developed an understandable resistance to the boring optical shenanigans that result when computers are programmed to make drawings by technicians who lack the imagination of artists.’” The article’s broad panning of computer-programmed work provides a necessary temperature check on the state of technology and art. While computers themselves were finally becoming the beloved devices we know them as today, the art produced by them was still considered in a far less positive light.