Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 4: Digital Era (1960s)
1969
ARPANET Goes Live, Precursor to the Internet
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), precursor to the modern Internet, went live in September 1969, with four host computers connected by year’s end. ARPANET’s development facilitated the exchange of information and ideas among scientists and researchers, creating a fertile environment for artistic experimentation in the coming decades.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
Movements
computer art
Filed under
- Ideas
- agency, collaboration, research
- Technologies
- ARPANET, computer art, Internet
- Organisations
- DARPA
- Places
- United States
Echoes across time
- 1986 · Ernest Edmonds Establishes LUTCHI Research Centre
- 1995 · Nettime Forms and net.art Begins
- 1989 · Tim Berners-Lee Invents the World Wide Web
Le Random editorials
Le Random podcast
- Elevating the Generative Art Space (Launch Episode) with Casey Reas, ciphrd, Anne Spalter, Anika Meier & Georg Bak — listen with transcript on Le Random (28 Jun 2023, 52 min). Transcript mentions Internet. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 2—Modern Era with Kate Vass — listen with transcript on Le Random (20 Jul 2023, 58 min). Transcript mentions Internet. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 3—Analog Era (1950s) with Georg Bak — listen with transcript on Le Random (10 Aug 2023, 65 min). Transcript mentions Internet. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 4—Digital Era Pt I (1960s) with Dr A Michael Noll — listen with transcript on Le Random (07 Sep 2023, 60 min). Chapter 4’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 4—Digital Era Pt II (1960s) with Michael Spalter — listen with transcript on Le Random (21 Sep 2023, 77 min). Chapter 4’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify