Computer Graphics 1984

Name: Ragnar Digital, LLC
Price range: $

Melvin Lewis Prueitt

1984

Mixed Media

12 month calendar

Description

Computer graphics rose to new levels of popularity in the mid-1980s, as demonstrated by their appearance on calendars such as this one. “Computer Graphics 1984” showcases the work of Melvin L. Prueitt, who published a number of books and articles on the artistic and scientific applications of computer-generated imagery. His designs were also featured in the _Star Trek _film franchise, among other places.

Prueitt produced the calendar at Los Alamos National Laboratory, part of the US Department of Energy, where he worked for 31 years as a theoretical physicist. Each month includes a colorful image framed by a black-and-white drawing of a computer monitor; the calendar grid is formatted to resemble a keyboard. The images range in style from fantastical landscapes to more abstract patterns.

At the back, a page of text explains how Prueitt created the graphics, identifying the programs he wrote to generate them: Camera, Photo, and Pictura. The pictures were rendered on a CRT and recorded on 35mm film. “The computer served only as a tool—a brush in the artist’s hand,” Prueitt writes.