Yoichiro Kawaguchi Designates His Work Digital Art

One of the foremost computer artists of the time, Yoichiro Kawaguchi collaborated with the developers of the LINKS computer, which he also used to produce much of his work. His interest in organic, alien-like 3D forms was achieved algorithmically, mostly using a technology he called metaballs. An example of his randomly constructed, recursive algorithmic art is Tendril, also from 1981. In the book Digital Image, he refers to his work as digital art in one of the first instances of the term’s use. Another thing he has in common with Harold Cohen, yet for which Kawaguchi is significantly less credited, is the pioneering of AI art. His GROWTH model, which he began working on in the late ’70s is some of the first instances of evolutionary concepts in art. Further, his work more closely aligns with today’s machine learning—and AI art—than Cohen’s Expert System, logic based AI. 1981 also saw the beginning of his famous Growth Model going public as he would release a seminal paper 1982 on his findings. This paper would see him rise to international prominence.