Untitled (plotter) by Robert Mallary, 1975

Untitled (plotter)

Name: Ragnar Digital, LLC
Price range: $

Robert Mallary

1975

Plotter Drawing

Unique plotter drawing on paper
Includes separate print out of code used to generate the drawing

17"x12"
Unsigned

Description

Created in 1975 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, this untitled work by Robert Mallary is among the few plotter drawings from the 1970s preserved with its original program output, making it an important record of how early computer art was created.

Coded instructions guided the pen plotter across sprocket-feed paper, translating numerical input into geometric form. Mallary wrote the program in Fortran, defining parameters for spacing, symmetry, and placement. A line-printer sheet labeled “ID NUMBER 478-3” accompanies the drawing, listing the seed values, spacing parameters, and X–Y coordinates used by the program, along with a shape index identifying the plotted forms. Squares and rectangles of varying sizes are closely stacked into two formations, separated by narrow spacing.