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Hiroshi Kawano

Hiroshi Kawano

Hiroshi Kawano (April 14, 1925-December 18, 2012) was a Japanese Computer

Artist known for being the first to use a digital computer to design art works.

Background

Early Life

Hiroshi was born in the year 1925 in the city of Fushun in the country of China to Japanese parents. After living there for about ten years, the family moved to Japan some time in 1935 just years before the war would break out.

Education

He attended the University of Tokyo where he studied Philosophy and Aesthetics. He continues his studies at the same university where he received his Master of Science degree in Philosophy of science.

During his time with the university, he was curious as to the latest technology being developed such as computers.

The University was the owner of a OKITAC 5090A.

It was there that Hiroshi would experiment with his algorithms and other computational inputs to bare witness his art designs.

In 1964 he published his first designs.

Photo of Kawano in a classroom showing students a script of computations done to produce the art works.

Photo of Kawano in a classroom showing students a script of computations done to produce the art works.

Hiroshi is considered to be the first in the world who experimented with a computer to generate visual works that are considered Art pieces. His pioneering position is exceptional insofar as he came to digital art from philosophy, i.e. neither from mathematics/engineering nor from fine art.

The first designs he calculated at the University of Tokyo in 1964 with the OKITAC 5090A were shown in Europe in 1968 at the Tendencies 4, Computers and visual Research exhibition, most likely the first of Kawano’s participation at exhibitions.

Teaching Position & Art

Kawano taught aesthetics at the Metropolitan College of Air Technology.

He went on to develop his own programs to compute arrangements of colored, axis-aligned rectangles.

He used the (line-printer) output of such calculations to realize colored images by hand.

Kawano also experimented with texts, sculpture, and music.

The "Mondrian2" painting by Kawano.

The "Mondrian2" painting by Kawano.

Kawano says that Max Bense was an important source of inspiration for his algorithmic art. His approach was strongly influenced by cybernetics and Bense’s information aesthetics. He participated in the Tendencies 4 and 5 symposia and exhibitions at Zagreb, Croatia. He published many articles on the relation between aesthetics, art, and Artificial Intelligence. Theories of the mind as information processor have interested him greatly.

Art Galleries & Curators

Unnamed Mondrain by Kawano.

Unnamed Mondrain by Kawano.

In 2010 the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany acquired most of his works and his archive. A first retrospective exhibition was arranged at ZKM by curator Margit Rosen. The materials now at ZKM comprise about 80 works of art, all his programs and studies, documents and audio recordings (literary and musical computer

experiments), documentations of his exhibitions, correspondence with important protagonists from the heroic phase of computer art, all his publications, as well as a large collection of computer art and aesthetics publications from Japan, Europe, and the USA.

He donated these items to a museum in Germany to honor Max Bense for the inspiration from this philosopher and theoretician of aesthetics.

Quote

" … a computer artist should be a programmer who can teach his computer to produce works of art by itself, and furthermore know about the digital computing behavior of his computer in detail.

It is never a computer artist, but a computer itself that produces works of art; a computer artist only helps his computer acting as a programmer.… computer art should not be confused with a style or a school of the modern art using a computer as an innovative tool of an artist who has been tired of traditional techniques of art.

As the latter usually seems to be called ‘computer art,’ I would like to call the former art of computer ‘art computer.’

14 April 1925Born in Fushun, China, to Japanese parents
1935Family moves to Japan
1948-1951Studies philosophy and aesthetics at University of Tokyo, graduates from the department of philosophy.Specialty: aesthetics
1951-1955Graduate school, the University of Tokyo.Majoring in aesthetics, also philosophy of science
1955-1961Research assistant at the Department of Aesthetics, University of Tokyo
1961-1972Lecturer and Associate Professor at the Tokyo Metropolitan College of Air-Technology
1967Max Bense visits Japan, lectures in Sendai, Hirosaki, Tokyo, where Kawano meets him at Waseda University
1968Participates in exhibition of first Japanese computer art contest at Sankei building in Tokyo (initiated by Shigeru Watanabe)
1972-1988Professor at the Metropolitan College of Technology, Tokyo
1986Ph.D. from Osaka University (Computer and aesthetics: searching for the art of Artificial Intelligence, in Japanese, 1984 publ.as book)
1986-1990Professor of Science of Art, Infprmation Science, and Computer Graphics at the Metropolitan Institute of Technology, Tokyo
1990-1994Professor at the Nagano University
1994-1996Professor at the Tohoku University of Art and Design
1995-2006Lecturer of aesthetics at the Department of Philosophy, Nihon University
1997-2001Visiting Professor, Tama Art University
1990 onwardsProfessor Emeritus, Metropolitan Institute of Technology
1996 onwardsProfessor Emeritus, Tohoku University of Art and Design
1968First Japanese Computer Art Contest, Sankei Bldg, Tokyo.
1968Nove Tendencije 4: Computers and Visual Research, Center za kulturu informacije, Zagreb.
1969Nove Tendencije 4: Computer and Visual Research, Galerija suvremene umjetnosti, Zagreb.
1970Solo show: Computer Art, Plaza DIC, Tokyo.
1973Cybernetic ARTRIP: Computer Art Exhibition ’73, Sony Bldg, Tokyo.
1974Computer Art Exhibition ’74, Sony Bldg, Tokyo.
1975Computer Art Exhibition ’75, Sony Bldg, Tokyo.
1976NCC ’76 Exhibition, Rhinelander Gallery, New York Hilton, NYC.
1985Künstliche Kunst, Siemens Museum, München.
2000I am Still Alive, PM gallery, Zagreb.
200620th Century Computer Art: Beginnings and Developments, Tama Art University Museum, Tokyo.
2007bit international, [Nove] tendencije – Computers and Visual Research, Zagreb 1961-1973, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria.
2008bit international, [Nove] tendencije – Computers and Visual Research, Zagreb 1961-1973, ZKM, Karlsruhe.
2009Best of Digital Art, DAM Berlin.
2011-2012Hiroshi Kawano – Der Philosoph am Computer, ZKM, Karlsruhe, September 24th, 2011- January 8th, 2012.
1950sStudies of semiotic aesthetics (Susan Langer, Charles Morris)
1960sAnalytic Aesthetics and Information Aesthetics (Max Bense, Abraham A. Moles).– Computer Art Experiments: Markov chains for picture production.Tanka (Japanese 31 letter poem) production by Markov chains and generative grammars
1970sPicture production by PDL (Picture Descriptive Language).– Music composition and performance experiments.Theoretical Research for Post-Markov model.Chomsky’s Generative Grammar and PDL.Artificial Intelligence
1980sTheoretical Research for Post-AI.TheSociety of MindTheory (Marvin Minsky, Seymour Papert and others).The Frame Theory of semantics and pragmatics.KSOM (Kawano Society of Mind) by LOGO.DORAEMON: Pragmatic Frame Programming
1990sTheoretical Research: from sequencial to parallel computation.Folk theory for post-computational aesthetics
2000sNew Paradigm for Art Revolution — parallel distributed processing aesthesis and art.Physical and mathematical foundations of the New Aesthetics.

References

[1]
Citation Linkopenculture.comArticle by Open Culture.
May 13, 2017, 9:02 AM
[2]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comThe "Mondrian1" painting by Kawano.
May 13, 2017, 9:05 AM
[3]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comThe "Mondrian2" painting by Kawano.
May 13, 2017, 9:06 AM
[4]
Citation Linkdada.compart-bremen.deA short biography and timeline of the life of Kawano.
May 13, 2017, 9:07 AM
[5]
Citation Linkoverheadcompartment.orgScholarly Blog Post about the life and times of Hiroshi.
May 13, 2017, 9:59 AM
[6]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comPhoto of Kawano in a classroom showing students a script of computations.
May 13, 2017, 10:01 AM
[7]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comAn unnamed Mondrain with a grey background filled with blue, yellow and red by Kawano.
May 13, 2017, 10:06 AM
[8]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comUnnamed Mondrain by Kawano.The art work looks like a caricature here.
May 13, 2017, 10:07 AM
[9]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comA black and a lighter shade of tan Mondrain digital art piece by Kawano.
May 13, 2017, 10:08 AM
[10]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comThe OKITAC 5090A.
May 13, 2017, 10:08 AM