1968 | Cybernetic Serendipity at ICA, London (Aug 2 - Oct 20, 1968)

From Visualisation: Art et Cybernétique, French Broadcasting Corp., 1968. Dubbed into english from french. Cybernetic Serendipity is regarded as one of the most important exhibitions in Digital Art history. The culmination of over three years of efforts by curator Jasia Reichardt, it would introduce hundreds of thousands of visitors to the world of computer-generated creativity. The inception of Cybernetic Serendipity would be rooted with German philosopher Max Bense¹, who would advise curator Jasia Reichardt to "look into computers,” while visiting the ICA Museum in 1965. Following this suggestion, Reichardt would spend the next three years exploring the creative potential of the computer, culminating into an international exhibition of over 300 artists and engineers. Conceptually, Jasia Reichardt desired not to just curate computer-generated artworks, but to convey the full breadth of contemporary creative explorations of the technology — encompassing visual art, algorithmic music, digital poetry, generative dance, kinetic sculpture, and animation. The exhibition would start in London at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, then visiting what is now the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.² before ending at SFMoMA in California³. Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (August 2, 1968 - October 20, 1968) Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (July 16, 1969 - August 31, 1969) Exploratorium, San Francisco (November 1, 1969 - December 18, 1969) It was radically different from anything the institutional landscape had experienced prior, with sound (both machine-made and musical) permeating the once silent gallery spaces. Coinciding with the international exhibition, Motif Editions would produce a print portfolio of computer-generated works by pioneers such as Charles Csuri, Kerry Strand, and the Computer Technique Group — making computational art commercially accessible to the public for the first time. The legacy of Cybernetic Serendipity is profound. It would inspire artists to try the computer in their practice, influence the global perception of art & technology, usher in the first generation of digital art collectors, and provide a curatorial foundation that has persisted into today. ¹Max Bense would go on to influence many generative art pioneers to explore the computer creatively throughout the 1960s, including Frieder Nake, Georg Nees, and Herbert W. Franke. ²Known then as the Corcoran Gallery of Art. ³Known then as the Exploratorium.