Untitled (punch cards)

1972

Painting

15.75"x12.5"
IBM 80-column computer punch cards mounted on birch ply, overpainted with acrylic

Highlights Female Pioneer The Ragnar 100

Description

Using IBM 80-column computer punch cards as both surface and stencil, Monique Nahas replicated the pixelated abstractions typically achieved by computer screens. Instead of working on a palette, Nahas considered color as a set of percentages. Her approach was highly influenced by the work of Pointillist painters such as Georges Seurat (1859–1891), who made use of optical mixing and simultaneous contrast when distributing tonal variations.

This particular work layers punch cards that were programmed in a coded sequence and then painted using a roller. Punch cards were widely used in the 20th century for the input, output, and storage of digital data. Nahas was one of the earliest artists in France to make use of computers. In 1969 she cofounded the Groupe Art et Informatique de Vincennes, which explored the new aesthetic possibilities emerging from digital tools.

Untitled (digital painting) by Monique Nahas, 1975

Untitled (digital painting) Monique Nahas1975 Print

Chastique (untitled) by Aldo Giorgini, 1972

Chastique (untitled) Aldo Giorgini1972 Painting

Untitled Georg Nees1972 Mixed Media

Computer Paragraph by Sture Johannesson, 1972

Computer Paragraph Sture Johannesson1972 Print

Untitled Generative Serigraph by Eduardo Mac Entyre, 1972

Untitled Generative Serigraph Eduardo Mac Entyre1972 Print

Untitled Impossible Figure (red cube) by José María Yturralde, 1972

Untitled Impossible Figure (red cube) José María Yturralde1972 Print

Elements Subjected to Perspectives by Rolf Wölk, 1972

Elements Subjected to Perspectives Rolf Wölk1972 Print

Stochastic Lines Subjected to Constraints #3 by Rolf Wölk, 1972

Stochastic Lines Subjected to Constraints #3 Rolf Wölk1972 Print