Artwork
BIGDIM
BIGDIM is a drawing by Paul Brown. It dates from 1979 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
The numbers in the title come from data the computer used to shape the drawing.
Paul Brown made this drawing in 1979. It’s a plotter drawing controlled by code he wrote. The pen plotter moved a pen across paper following his instructions.
This work is part of a series called BIGDIM. The numbers in the title come from data the computer used to shape the drawing. The artist later reused the same code to create more drawings.
This artist pushed early computer art forward. Look up Brown, Paul.
Overview
This 1979 drawing is a product of Paul Brown's experimentation with computer-generated art. It is part of a series titled BIGDIM, an abbreviation for BIG DIMENSION.
Technique & Style
The drawing was created using a pen plotter controlled by a computer program written by Brown. The plotter moved a pen across the paper according to the instructions encoded in the program, generating a unique composition based on selected data.
History & Provenance
Brown developed the code for this series while studying at the Slade School's Experimental Department in the 1970s, a pioneering institution in integrating computer art into its curriculum. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds multiple drawings produced using the same code.
Artist & collection
Artist
Paul Eugene Brown was an American football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), the National Football League (NFL), and the American Football League (AFL).
