Christian Cavadia

Christian Cavadia was born in Romania and later became a French citizen. He was an engineer, computer scientist, and technician who held three doctorate degrees. From 1957, he worked with electrical measurement and control systems. Beginning in 1972, he led computer science development at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, with a focus on the electronic library. That same year, he founded ARTA (Atelier de Recherches et Technologies Avancées), which functioned as a public-facing laboratory where visitors could directly engage with computers, experiment with interactive tools, and observe the creative process in real time. It became a site of exchange, where research, public participation, and artistic experimentation converged through code, graphics, and play.

At a time when computing resources were limited, Cavadia developed custom graphic software capable of generating intricate images over several hours. He worked with a portable microcomputer featuring a high-precision screen capable of displaying up to 800,000 points, a keyboard, and a cassette tape recorder/player. The system included 32,000 kilobytes of RAM and an equivalent amount of ROM, the latter containing fixed, pre-programmed libraries. The hardware also featured a digital plotter with motorized pen movement and a digitizer tablet, which converted analog stylus motions into digital coordinate data. Among his innovations was a program that allowed tailoring patterns to be adjusted to individual body measurements, eliminating traditional pattern-making processes and optimizing fabric use.

His programs empowered artists to expand the possibilities of plotter-based graphics. One key collaborator, Jean-Pierre Lihou, used Cavadia’s software to create dynamic compositions structured around attraction points and network distortions—systems that balanced mathematical logic with spontaneity and unpredictability. Cavadia’s work was exhibited at the Centre Pompidou and in multiple editions of the SIGGRAPH Art Show. Notable works include Patchwork, Paysage Nocturne, Bouquet fléché, and Hommage à Escher. Some of these were created in collaboration with artists such as Jean-Pierre Lihou and Jean-Charles Troutot.