Jasia Reichardt,Editors, ,Cybernetics, Art and Ideas (1971) Studio Vista,London 207 pp. £4.20..
✍ Scribed by A.M. Andrew
- Book ID
- 104139564
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1972
- Weight
- 129 KB
- Volume
- 4
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0020-7373
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This attractively-produced volume contains 18 essays by different writers. One is an extract from Gulliver's Travels, dating from 1726. The others are of much more recent origin. The first impression on thumbing through the book is that it is rather a hotch-potch of unrelated items. When it is given closer attention, however, common themes are found which link the contributions. It also becomes clear that the authors are venturing into little-explored territory where any attempt to insist on a "right" approach would be fatal. In the nebulous area where Art and Cybernetics come together everyone must be able to do his own thing. The book will be read with interest and profit by anyone who wants to venture into this area.
Most of the contributions come within one of the following categories: (a) those which deal with wide human issues, rather tenuously connected with art; (b) those which deal with the production of actual works of art, whether visual, auditory, literary or combinations of these; (c) those concerned primarily with computers. One paper which defies such classification, since it could be said to belong to all three categories, is a whimsical piece of science fiction called "Nonobody's mathematical bio-pianolas " by Stefan Themerson.
Of the papers in category (a), that of Denis Gabor, on" Technological civilization and man's future" is probably the most profound. He discusses man's present state and how it has come about, and its likely future. Some of the current problems, he claims, can be blamed on a lack of poets able to give us visions of anything noble and beautiful for which to strive. Instead, the writers of the day give nothing but polished expressions of despair and disgust. Gabor does not say what form the vision should take; presumably he is no poet. However, his general argument accords very well with the way in which a large dissatisfied youthful section of the population is strongly attracted by Oriental and other religions and by the mystical experiences which hallucinogenic drugs can provide.
Ten of the contributions fall within category (b). The longest of them is a very full description of Gordon Pask's " Musicolour "system, with elaborate flow charts and entertaining narrative. It is good that this full account has been put down, since this pioneering work has aroused much interest, in U.S.S.R. and elsewhere. Systems are described which generate an animated, coloured display controlled in a complex way by a sound channel. A musician can watch the display while producing the 205