THE ALGORISTS

Note: This page presents a brief orientation to the origin of the term "algorist" in 20th Century art. The term was introduced in 1995 to identify those artists who employ original algorithms in the process of creating their art. This artistic practice has a very deep history but there had been no common label for the artists who employ the process. Algorithmic art, implemented with the aid of computers, reaches back to the 1960's but algorithmic art precedes the advent of computers. We introduced the term specifically to help identify a unique and important practice that experienced an impetus with the advent of computing power. The history of algorist practice is rooted in the history of algorithmic art that dates back to prehistoric times in weaving and tool making. For a briefing on algorithm in art and history see algorithmic art. Last update: 9/29/2006 (rv)

Who are the algorists? Simply put, algorists are artists who create art using algorithmic procedures that include their own algorithms. The term was introduced in 1995 to identify artists who employed original algorithms in the process of creating their art. Such procedures apply to a very broad spectrum of art practice coursing through the history of art.

The rise of algorithmic art in the last half of the 20th Century began in the earlier days of computing when engineers and artists often collaborated in developing procedures for visualization achieved with algorithms implemented with computing power. Software and technical procedures for visualization grew hand in hand with hardware. Artists engaging new computing and visualizing technologies had to either collaborate with technicians or create their own procedures (algorithms). First generation algorists of the 1970's included Harold Cohen, Herbert Franke, Manfred Mohr, Frieder Nake, and George Nees.

Venues for exhibiting algorithmic art emerged in the late 1970's and 1980's when various symposia and conferences, both national and international, began including exhibitions and papers related to the use of computing procedures in the arts. (See note 1). Leonardo, the quarterly on art science and technology, published writings by practitioners and dedicated issues documenting exhibitions for SIGGRAPH, ISEA, and the Digital Salon.

By the 1980's a number of artists using original algorithms had achieved distinctive styles, each with a body of mature work. Working independently of each other, several found that they had shared similar experiences over the years. Since the 1970's artists had been creating their art with original algorithms implemented with computing power but there was no single term to identify these artists. Following the 1995 panel on "Artists and Algorithms" in Los Angeles, Jean Pierre Hebert, Ken Musgrave and I briefly discussed forming an informal group of artists who shared similar interests. Having engaged in algorithmic procedures for many years we had experienced a need to create an identity for those who shared this practice. (Note 2)

For several months we corresponded in search of a term with possible ways to share views. Eventually we settled on the term "algorist" as proposed by JPH. This term most probably descended from the name of an Arabian mathematician who was active around 820 AD in Baghdad. It is believed that his surname, al-Khowarazmi is the source for the term algorism.

The use of the term algorism appeared with various spellings in several languages and often with latinizing influence as in algorismus. In English the term algorism came to be replaced with the term algorithm which is more commonly used today. So one who employs algorithms (algorism) may be termed an algorist.

As artists employing algorithmic procedures the term algorist fit our interests well. In general we are fairly agreed that algorists are artists who include original algorithmic procedures in the course of creating their work. The use of algorithms in and of itself does not constitute algorist work. It is the inclusion of one's own algorithms that makes the difference. (See Note 3)

As algorists with or without computers, we all employ algorithms created by colleagues and predecessors. Basic tools like geometry and perspective come to mind. We depend on algorithms others have created for everything from the circuit logic and operating system of our computers to the languages and the editors that we use.

The algorist goes one step further by introducing original algorithms for generating "art". The jewel of algorist art lies in the artist's own "form-generating algorithm", the artist's unique procedure for creating the form. From this perspective Mozart's score for a Sonata, the architects plan for the building, and Hans Dehlinger's code for a drawing are all "form-generating" algorithms.

Algorists may be found throughout the history of art. Our algorist predecessors range from Twentieth century conceptual artists to prehistoric basket weavers who were innovators. See Note 4

Finally, one aspect of the algorist definition remains open to interpretation. An algorist, by definition, creates an "art". One might employ original algorithms in creating a scientific visualization that some may view as "art". Yet the visualization may not fit another's conception of art. Or one might employ original algorithms and create an experience that one person may consider an "art" while another may consider it unacceptable as "art". The definition does not attempt to identify what constitutes an "art".

The history of algorist art during the last half of the 20th Century presents many interesting questions on the very nature of art. We may expect as more detailed studies of late 20th Century exhibitions and catalogues emerge that unknown algorists with surprisingly interesting work and perspectives will emerge.

Although algorists had been active since the 1960's there was no "algorist" site addressing algorist concerns. In 1996, J.P. Hebert introduced several pages dedicated to the algorists. These pages spelled out essential features of "algorist" art, historical precedents, and links to related topics and issues. These initial pages identified an informal group of active algorists at that time including Yoshiyuke Abbe, Harold Cohen, Hans Dehlinger, Helaman Ferguson, Manfred Mohr, Vera Molnar, Mark Wilson, and many others. Clearly our algorist definition would especially embrace many important algorists like Paul Brown and Earnest Edmonds whose contributions have been extremely valuable to the algorithmic revolution. It was understood that a deeper understanding of algorist theory and practice, including its practitioners, would emerge in the years ahead.

Many first generation algorists worked with pen plotters as their first graphic interface. Some shared a common history that grew out of conceptual art and an interest in the emerging information processing technologies of the 1960's. This was long before the internet and the computing power driving 21st Century culture. Put in perspective the first generation algorists mark a stage in the growth of generative procedures in the arts. The numerous sites and groups involved with generative art at the turn of the century testify to a remarkable growth of coded procedures in virtually all the arts. As this 21st Century unfolds generative art emerges as a major force in the creative arts. See: http://www.generative.net

Note 1. By the late 1980's the established symposia and exhibition venues that were known to me included: The Inter-Society for Electronic Art (ISEA), SIGGRAPH and Ars Electronica . The annual Small Computers in the Arts conference (Philadelphia, 1980 ff) was also an important venue in the U.S. recognizing the impact of the PC for individual artists. At all of these conferences artists could see the work of others and share mutual concerns. The exhibitions, papers, panels, and publications of these venues provided an overview of what was generally called "computer art" but there was no single venue for specifically "algorist" work.

To address algorithmic procedure in the arts I organized a small symposium at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1991 (February 23/24). This symposium Art & Algorithm - Mind & Machine, included an audio visual show, "Images of the Unseen From the Worlds of Art & Science". The presentation of video, sound tracks and slides included the work of 23 artists and scientists from 6 countries.

Algorithmic drawing
Vera Molnar
74.338/14.29.00
c.1990

Courtesy of the artist for the 1991 symposium on Art & algorithm... .

©v.molnar

Artists and scientists whose work was shown included: Stephen C.G.Bell (UK), Donna Cox (US), Charlotte Davies (Canada), Hans Dehlinger (Germany), Helamen Ferguson (US), Samia A. Halaby (US), Bruce Hamilton (US), Jean Pierre Hebert (US), Yoichiro Kawaguchi (Japan), William Latham (UK), Vera Molnar (France), Jim Otis (US), Clifford Pickover (US), Jeffrey Ventrella (US), Mark Wilson (US), Toshifumi Kawahara (Japan).

Note 2. Peter Beyls (Belgium) and I laid plans in 1993 for a panel on Algorithms and the Artist for the Fourth International Symposium on Electronic Art (Helsinki, September 1994). The panel, with Peter as chair, included Brian Evans (US), Steve Bell (UK) and myself. With growing interest in these issues Peter proposed and chaired a similar panel, with the addition of Jean Pierre Hebert and Ken Musgrave, at SIGGRAPH in LA the following year (1995). Following this LA panel JeanPierre Hebert, Ken Musgrave and I agreed on working together to establish a common identity. Following months of correspondence and reviewing a range of proposals we adopted the term algorist as proposed by Jean Pierre Hebert. We agreed that the term "algorist" worked well to identify those artists who wrote original algorithms in the process of creating their art. From my perspective we had proposed and agreed on a term to identify ourselves and other artists who followed a similar practice.

Note 3. Jean Pierre Hebert, noting that algorists ought to be defined with an algorithm, wrote a definition identifying an algorist as one who uses one's own algorithms for creating art objects. The Hebert algorithm, as quoted below, dates from correspondence in September 1995:

So artists who create an object of art with a process that includes their own algorithms are identified as algorists.

Note 4. Algorists, those who use algorithms, have been with us for centuries. The use of the term "algorist" to identify a specific group must be understood in the context of its use and context. In the late Middle Ages controversies arose between the "algorists" and "abacists". The algorists, having adapted algebra and Arabic numbering, found resistance among the abacists with their classical numbering system and Euclidean Geometry. So historically "algorists" were mathematicians who embraced calculating procedures with the arabic numbering system. The use of the term "algorist"applied to artists simply identifies a specialized sector who are artists.