International Computer Arts Festival at The Kitchen, New York

Exhibition · North America

Typed festival program with The Kitchen heading, April 1973 dates and a line illustration of a keyboard. — The Kitchen’s First Computer Art Festival, April 1–14, 1973: original program cover. The Kitchen. Archival scan: Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), document A.8654.35; designer not identified. Image source.

This festival featured panels, films, graphics and music made or inspired by computers. It included the work from a particularly impressive set of computer video pioneers such as William Fetter, Lillian Schwartz, Stan Vanderbeek and John Whitney. It also included audio work by Fluxus artist, Alison Knowles.

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

Sources

Halleck, DeeDee. Hand-Held Visions: The Impossible Possibilities of Community Media. New York: Fordham University Press, 2002.

People

Alison Knowles, John Whitney, Lillian Schwartz, Stan VanDerBeek, William Fetter

Movements

computer animation, computer art, Computer Music, Fluxus, video art

Filed under

Ideas: Computer Film, Computer Music, video art
Technologies: computer animation, computer art, computer graphics
People: Alison Knowles, John Whitney, Lillian Schwartz, Stan VanDerBeek, William Fetter
Works: Computer Video
Exhibitions: International Computer Arts Festival
Organisations: Fluxus, The Kitchen
Places: New York, United States

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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