Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 6: Personal Computer Era (1980s)

1987

The Expanding Medium: The Future of Computer Art by Herbert W. Franke

Publication

A photographic portrait of Herbert W. Franke, author of 'The Expanding Medium: The Future of Computer Art', reading from a book at a table with a microphone in 2007; it is a portrait of the author, not an image of the essay.
A photographic portrait of Herbert W. Franke, author of 'The Expanding Medium: The Future of Computer Art', reading from a book at a table with a microphone in 2007; it is a portrait of the author, not an image of the essay. Herbert W. Franke, 8 September 2007. Photograph: Mike Kruger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Originally published in Leonardo, the essay exhibited an optimistic tone, particularly “on perspective and interdisciplinary practice.” This optimism echoed the reversal of sentiment in human-computer interaction. Since the late 1970s, an on-going sense of optimism, fueled by the growing popularity of PCs and video games, had developed regarding digital technology.

Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.

Sources

People

Herbert W. Franke, Leonardo da Vinci

Movements

computer art, generative art, Video Game Art

Filed under

Ideas
generative art, Video Game Art, video games
Technologies
computer art, Human-Computer Interaction, personal computer
People
Herbert W. Franke, Leonardo da Vinci
Works
The Expanding Medium: The Future of Computer Art

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