03: Timeline Ch 3—Analog Era (1950s) with Georg Bak

The Le Random team of ⁠⁠thefunnyguys⁠⁠, Peter Bauman (⁠⁠Monk Antony⁠⁠) and Conrad House (⁠⁠Nemo Cake⁠⁠) spoke to special guest and acclaimed expert Georg Bak ⁠about the foundational significance of the 1950s in generative art history: The Analog Era.

This episode corresponds with:

• ⁠⁠Generative Art Timeline: Chapter 3⁠

10 Significant Modern Era Moments (Covered in the talk)⁠

1. 1951: MIT and the US Navy First Demonstrate the Whirlwind Computer ( + 1954: Whirlwind and SAGE Initiatives by US Military Funding Spark Computing Innovations)

   
   



2. 1952: Love-Letters by Christopher Strachey + 1959: Theo Lutz produces Stochastic Texts

   
   



3. 1952: Abstronic by Mary Ellen Bute + Electronic Abstractions by Ben Laposky

   
   



4. 1952: Birth of Neo-Dada + John Cage’s Theater Piece No. 1 + 1957: Allan Kaprow Begins Making ‘Environments’ + 1950: Happenings

   
   



5. 1953: Grace Murray Hopper Invents Programming Languages

   
   



6. 1954: Victor Vasarely’s Yellow Manifesto Lays Generative Art's Conceptual Foundation

   
   



7. 1956: CYSP by Nicolas Schöffer

   
   



8. 1957: John Backus Releases FORTRAN

   
   



9. 1957: Max Mathews Develops MUSIC I

   
   



10. 1958: John Whitney Makes First Computer Animation for Film Vertigo