Interact Digital Arts - 8-bit II Exhibition

Projects | Exhibitions | Computer Arts Archive

8-bit II Exhibition

Phoenix Café Bar, Leicester
10th January – 31st March 2025

An exhibition of 1980s computer artwork from Dan Cooper, Geoff Davis and Martin Rootes.

The 1980s was a very significant time in the development of computer art. While artists had been using computers to create art since the 1960s, the 1980s was the first time that would-be artists could visit the high street and purchase a "micro-computer" capable of producing computer graphics and sound at an affordable price.

While not intentionally created for use by artists, computers such as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Commodore 64 and Apple II enabled people who may never have used a computer before to learn to program and create their own images and computer artworks. Ironically, however, this accessibility has resulted in relatively poor preservation of the artworks created in the era. The flourishing of bespoke operating systems, somewhat unreliable storage media and cheap, but poor-quality, printers now means that original 1980s home computer artworks are hard to come by - certainly those made by artists who are not already in the accepted canon of computer and digital art history.

The Computer Arts Archive began to explore this area in 2020 with an exhibition of work from the Micro Arts Group project by Geoff Davis from the mid-1980s. Geoff created artwork on the ZX Spectrum and brought together a group of like-minded artists (including Martin Rootes, who worked on the BBC Micro) to help share their creations. He produced a paper magazine and a series of Micro Arts (MA) cassettes – the preferred way of distributing software at the time. Documentation from this exhibition, which was shown at the LCB Depot in Leicester in 2020 and the BCS Moorgate offices in London in 2021, can be found on the 8-Bit Exhibition web page.

An important aspect of Geoff's work was that he had kept the original software in a runnable form and had maintained a personal archive of his materials from the era. Similarly, Dan Cooper, a US artist who developed an interest in making computer artwork in the 1980s using software and the Apple II, also maintained a personal archive with runnable software. As an established artist at the time, Dan's work drew on his extensive creative background and will be the subject of a future solo show of work by the Computer Arts Archive.

By exhibiting artworks by Dan Cooper, Geoff Davis and Martin Rootes in a single show we are both recognising the significance of the artwork from the era and launching what we hope will grow into a unique 1980s 8-bit Art Collection. We look forward, to expanding the collection further, exhibiting it elsewhere and contributing to a broader understanding of the importance of 1980s home computer art. If you would like to contribute, please get in touch with me at seanc@interactdigitalarts.uk.

Sean Clark
Curator, Computer Arts Archive

January 2025

Exhibition organised by the Computer Arts Archive in collaboration with Interact Digital Arts and the Computer Arts Society.

If you are an artist who was creating original artwork on 8-bit computers in the 1980s, please get in touch. The Computer Arts Archive would love to include your 1980s artwork in future events and exhibitions.

Exhibition Poster

Dan Cooper / Apple II

Dan Cooper (b. 1948) is an exhibiting artist whose artistic career has spanned over 60 years and includes a wide range of artistic styles, from geometric / abstract in the 1960s and 1970s, computer art (now known as generative art) in the 1980s, Californian, Canadian, and French landscapes in the 1990s through 2010s. His work, whether abstract or representational, is built on rhythm, patterns, and mathematical symmetry.

In the early days of the personal computer, before digital drawing/painting applications, Dan was writing original programs in Basic on his Apple II to bring a new type of imagery to traditional artists' mediums of painting and silk screening. He was an early member of Palo Alto-based, Ylem, a meetup and subsequent journal for artists using science and technology. Dan had one of the first shows of computer art in Silicon Valley which Art Week called “Outstanding”. He wrote "Computer Landscapes" for BYTE Magazine, "The Promise of Computer Art" for Tableau, and lectured on computer art at the San Francisco Art Institute, California College of Arts and Crafts, Mills College, and others.

Dan's paintings and silkscreens can be found in the collections of Fortune 500 companies and private collectors in the US, Canada, and Japan.

Dan attended The Lawrenceville School and did undergraduate work at Harvard College, majoring in Fine Arts. He holds a BA in Art and Psychology from Antioch College and studied art at the Art Students League and the Boston Museum School.

dancooperart.com/collections/82293

All images copyright Dan Cooper.

Sine Scape 101 (1981)

Tilty 21 (1983)

Risky Business 9 (1983)

Parabola Hills 2 (1983)

Bamboo Too 12 (1984)

Ellipses 5 (1984)

Geoff Davis / ZX Spectrum

Geoff Davis (b. 1957) is a generative computer artist who founded Micro Arts in 1984, aiming to support artists and make computer art accessible to the public. Inspired by his involvement in the London experimental film and video scene, Davis released several sets of micro-computer-generated art and a story text generator through Micro Arts, alongside works from other young artists. Much of his work was created on the ZX Spectrum computer. The art was distributed to the public via data cassettes and later on Prestel Teletext, a pre-web network viewable on TV sets.

Micro Arts provided a forum for young computer artists and musicians, publishing a print magazine featuring art and educational articles, including early 'paintbox' art. Davis coded minimal pixel art that took two years to complete and animated graphics about the 'money work system' (now known as UBI). His work received positive reviews in the computer press such as Computer News and Blitz fashion magazine but, being unconnected to academic or research graphics scenes, was forgotten until its revival in 2021 by Sean Clark of the Computer Arts Archive.

Davis is currently an AI and Arts researcher at the University of the Arts London (UAL). His written work has been published by PEN International and others and new fiction, alongside generative art multimedia, is scheduled for publication in 2025. He runs Story Software, which produces creativity support applications and is also a broad design consultancy.

microartsgroup.com
@microartsgroup

All images copyright Geoff Davis.

MA1 "Abstract Originals": #1 Lines (1984)

MA1 "Abstract Originals": #6 Triangles (1984)

MA1 "Abstract Originals": #7 Blocks (1984)

MA2 Various Unusual Events: The Studio (Random Walking) (1984)

MA2 Various Unusual Events: Piano Bar (1984)

MA4 Story Generator (1985)

Martin Rootes / BBC Micro

Martin Rootes (b. 1957) writes.

The Micro Arts project coincided with an interesting period in my life. I'd been interested in Art from an early age but had gone down the science route at school and then university. After university, I moved up to Sheffield to join a couple of friends from school with whom I’d been involved in making music. After the band eventually disbanded an inheritance coincided with the release of the BBC Micro. As I became interested in computer programming whilst at university I decided to buy a Model B. Had the sound capabilities been better I'd probably have used it for music. Instead, I started to investigate what I could do with the graphics. This led to me creating various graphics programs, five of which ended up on the Micro Arts cassette MA3. I also did ‘What’s on Next’ videos for both the Hacienda in Manchester and Sheffield’s Leadmill, as well as graphics for a video of Plan 9’s song “Red Tin Boxes” (a Sheffield Art College band).

The computer graphic programs that I created for MicroArts were all done on a BBC model B microcomputer. This computer had a very extensive set of graphic instructions as part of it’s BBC Basic programming language. These allowed the creation of various shapes and also allowed for the “colour” to be applied using a logical operation. The ability to logically apply “colours” and switch colour palettes gave the ability to create animated sequences. Using this method I created a set of programs based on different genres of art.

youtube.com/@martinrootes

All images copyright Martin Rootes.