OK, so here I am looking forward to throwing myself in the MA in Digital Media Arts…I’m raring to go. Our first lecture is at the Lighthouse, with Roman Verostko a digital art pioneer who recently received the ACM SIGGRAPH distinguished Artist Award for a lifetime achievement in digital art. Except, as I was about to excitedly board the train to Brighton, stuff happens, life gets in the way and I couldn’t make it. Grrrr ….

So instead I have tried to rectify the situation and my disappointment in some small way. I’ve delved into the internet archives to find out a little more about Roman Verostko.

• Born in 1929, Verostko’s  art emanates from the tradition of early 20th Century pioneers who sought to create art using pure visual form.  “The theory and practice of Mondrian, Kandinsky and Malevich  led me to explore what Henri Focillon identified as “the life of forms” in art…I have sought to create original forms that are unique realities without reference to other objects or images.”
• In 1970, through a programming course at the Control Data Institute in Minneapolis, Verostko experienced  the  form-generating possibilities coding procedures coupled with computing power could realise. “Clearly  the dreams of the pioneers could be realized! With this technology we could create instructions for generating visual forms; we could now compose  the “score” for drawing!” This discovery along with the continued development and sophistication of personal computers,  Verostko began writing elementary drawing instructions, or ‘algorithms’. Verostko has become known for his algorithmic pen and ink drawings.
• Algorists are ‘artists who create art using algorithmic procedures that include their own algorithms.‘  The term was introduced in 1995 to identify artists who employed original algorithms in the process of creating their art. For more info read Verostko’s ALGORITHMIC ART, Composing the Score for Visual Art
• For over 30 years a set of drawings lay unused, that he had created for an ‘Upsidedown Book’ in the 1970’s (later released in August 2008). He used these upside down drawings as a mural for the Fred Rogers Centre on the St Vincent College Campus in Latore, USA. Inside the main entrance of this impressive center the Upsidedown Mural rises over two stories.

For further reading on Roman Verostko’s fascinating work check out the following
On the man, www.verostko.com
On the algorists, www.algorists.org
On those beautiful dancing ‘Miroesque’ figures www.upsidedownbook.com
Interesting Verostko Essay digitalartmuseum.org/essays/verostko01.htm