Struycken, Peter (ed.), Rudi Fuchs, Cor Blok, Obe A. de Vries, and A. Veen.

[INCUNABULUM OF EARLY AI ART EXPERIMENTS] 1 Jaar Peter Struycken aan de Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht. 1 year Peter Struycken at the Stateuniversity [sic] of Utrecht.

Utrecht: Utrecht University, 1971. Oblong octavo (15 × 24 cm). Six printed envelopes and [8] pp. bound with a metal binder (5 of them stamped with subtitle and artist's name); the envelopes contain: 1 folded glassine leaf, 1 separate leaf, [12] staple-stitched pp. (text), 1 sixteen-page leporello printed on both sides; [18]; [10]; [16]; [6] pp. (text). Minor rubbing to first and last envelope; else very good. Item #55520

Rare source on the Dutch computer art scene, which presents their projects and theories in the individual envelopes. Above all, it features a program to investigate the links between art and science, with particular interest in the interaction between the two systems in a university environment, including discussions of the subject in a historical context.

Among others, the group “Compos 68”, which was founded by three students from Utrecht University, is here discussed. An art historian and two biologists set themselves the goal of combining the aesthetics of modernist paintings (such as Mondrian and Klee) with the computer simulation of growing trees. The three of them created a system that assigned numerical values to “color” and “form” in order to obtain numbers for mathematically formulated aesthetic theories. In the short time of barely two years, the group managed to exhibit their work at several important international exhibitions of computer-generated art, such as tendencies 4 in Zagreb, and Kunst und Computer in Vienna.

Struycken is one of the pioneers of computer art. As early as the 1960s, he experimented with arranging shapes and colors using mathematical calculations. In the 1970s, he wrote his own computer programs that calculated arrangements and constellations, which Struycken then executed. However, he was already experimenting with computer graphics at this time. His exploration of color and light ultimately led to the creation of a light sculpture for the arcades of the Dutch Institute of Architecture in Rotterdam, which changes its colors every ten minutes. Struycken was one of the first Dutch artists to use computers in his work. With his systematic works, he made a significant contribution to the development of digital art. (Cf. Felicitas Krohn, AKL, CVI, 2020, p. 488.)

The envelopes are stamped with the following titles: 1. P. Struycken. Vormgeving en exacte disciplines. Design and the Exact Disciplines. – 2. Cor Blok. Kunst en wetenschap als partners. Arts and Science as Partners. – 3. R. H. Fuchs. Over complexe Structuren. About Complex Structures. – 4. Obe A. de Vries. Kunst en Wetenschap op de Universiteit. Arts and Sciences ats the University. – 5. A. Veen. Compos 68. Compos 68.

The last two envelope are empty and not stamped.

As of November 2025, OCLC lists six copies in North America.

Price: €1,200.00

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