Two individual computer workstations

Comput. & Graphics Vol. 14, Nos. 3/4, pp. 527-530, 1990 Printed in Great Britain.

0097-8493/90 $3.00 + .00 © 1990 Pergamon Press pie

Short T e c h n i c a l N o t e s / Tu t o r i al s / Systems

TWO INDIVIDUAL COMPUTER WORKSTATIONS HAROLD JAMES MCWHINNIE Department of Design, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 Abstract--This article describes two workstations to operate at under $10,000 and designed to provide the computer capabilities for a number of art- and design-related tasks. The article questions whether one computer graphic system and workstation is really suitable for all computer graphic tasks at least at the low and middle ranges of computer equipment and software,t Implications for education in the arts are discussed and a range of options for the artist as well as the art educator are presented. Practical options and concerns for the purchase of computer hardware and software and video-related equipment are also discussed. TWO INDIVIDUAL COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORKSTATIONS As Clifford Pickover of IBM has observed, the goal of the new chaos and computer section of Computers & Graphics is to provide visual demonstrations of complicated and beautiful structures which can arise in systems based upon simple rules. * Chaos theory is an exciting, growing field of study which usually involves the study of a range of phenomena exhibiting a sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Although chaos may appear to be somewhat random to the observer, it obeys strict mathematical rules derived from equations, which can be formulated and studied. One of the principal research tools for the study of chaos is the computer and the general area of computer graphics. The seemingly paradoxical combination of randomness and structure in mathematical, physical, biological, electrical, chemical, and artistic systems are the stuff of the new theories about the universe, the origins of life, and the nature of modern reality as one approaches a new century. Nowhere is the interest in chaos more exciting than in the area of computer graphics where the scientists as well as the artist cooperate and inquire together as in no other time in Western civilization since at least the Italian Renaissance. The use of computer graphics and the computer in design and artistic processes has transformed the nature of the visible and human-built environments in this time of postmodernism. Patterns of nature drawing from simple rules which are primarily aesthetic, and unusual graphics are produced in the universe of mathematics and art. This is an old union or symbosis that too owes its heritage to artists such as da Vinci or Durer. Computer graphics allows the nonmathematician to experience some of the pleasure that mathematicians take in their work, and artists can better appreciate the very complicated and quite interesting graphical behavior of certain simple but elegant mathematical formulas.

The diversity of individual computer workstations causes some problems for the artist or for the designer who seeks to work on both the low and the middle range of software and hardware systems for the creation and the manipulation of images. My own interest is for the use of the computer in the area of studio art as well as in art education. I am not concerned with the high end uses and outputs for commercial purposes in either video or for graphic design. My search, outlined in this paper, was for an artist's workstation. From the earliest days of computer graphics, a high premium has been placed on the ability to create and display as well as to interact with geometrically defined objects[ 1]. In the sketchpad, for example, a user could create objects in a hierarchy and intrically manipulate and modify a picture using a light pen. The vector based architecture directly matched the requirements of such highly desirable interactions (vector based graphics). Raster graphic systems, on the other hand, have greatly enhanced the quality of computer images, allowing the display of solid shaded areas without any screen flicker, all desirable characteristics for the graphic design field and other more practical applications. The adoption of the raster optics systems as the fundamental basis for graphics operations has enabled the development of today's highly interactive user interfaces based on windows, menus, and mice. ~ For my own work in this general area, I discovered that I wished to work within the two main systems for computer graphics, IBM and Apple-Mac. I found that I need to have at least an access to three computers: Apple G / S , Mac Two, and IBM PS/70. I will discuss and describe these two main systems and workstations which I now employ in my own personal work as a studio-oriented artist and as an art educator emphasizing the use of the computer in the education of the art teacher as an aspect of the studio domain.

t One computer workstation was provided by the Computer Science Center of the University of Maryland, College Park Campus in June of 1989 as a part of a special faculty workstation program which has been conducted at the University over the past year.

Since one of my concerns has been for the use of the computer within the field of art education, in the teacher education courses in the visual arts which I

REQUIREMENTS

OF SELECTED WORKSTATIONS

APPLE MAC SYSTEM

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currently teach, I first selected the following as a basic workstation. Apple G / S computer with color monitor and mouse Imagewriter Two with black and white and color ribbons • S o f t w a r e Used." 816 Paint Paint Works Plus Fantavision Dazzle Draw • Hardware:

This is admittedly a low ended system, an individual workstation which is not part of a network. Its main function and use is twofold: (a) as a workstation for art education majors to try out the software (low end graphics) that are c o m m o n l y used in the public schools; and (b) as an idea generator and electronic sketchbook for the development of my own creative imagery that will be used in the more traditional artistic mediums such as paintings, drawings, and prints. When used in this manner the graphic images are photographed from the screen and then turned into slides for use as a basis for paintings or other traditional art forms. Hard copy prints are used for a ready record of the produced images, for easy access and recall, and as signed computer prints which are offered for sale in art galleries much like traditional forms of the printmaker's art. In this respect the Apple G / S workstation is viewed from a fine arts point of view, and the products from the Imagewriter Two printer (which I have called "The Art M a c h i n e " ) are viewed as any other form of a limited edition and signed print. Related to this Apple G / S workstation within the basic Apple-Mac environment is a second workstation which consists of: • • • •

Mac Two and monitor Black and white laser printer Mouse Thunderscan (the Imagewriter T w o )

Software for this station is as follows: • • • • •

Hypercard Mac Paint Mac Draw Abode lllustrator Thunderscan

The purpose of this computer workstation is somewhat like the Apple G / S , although, since 1 do not use color, the making o f slide images is not as yet useful to me. Basically, Mac Paint provides with hypercard the capacity to make an electronic sketchbook (a hypercard stack). It is an idea generator in which the final hard copies in black and white are produced on the laser printer and are viewed as limited edition prints in much the same manner as the products from the art machine in the Apple G / S workstation. They arc signed, numbered, and framed. This is "Art Machine Two."

From these descriptions the reader will see that the computer graphics that are produced are not designed for translation or use in another visual medium such as photography or video. These hard copies are viewed as electronic art and not as computer graphics. IBM WORKSTATION ("DAUGHTER OF ART MACHINE") This workstation consists of the following: • • • • • • •

IBM P S / 7 0 70 megabyte hard disk Infowindows color monitor and touch screen Pro-Printer Mouse Pioneer 1-6000 video disk player Digipad and stilus

The software used is as follows: • Dr. Halo • Handy • Pilot • PC-Paint The following video disks are used: • • • • • • •

National Gallery of Art Van Gogh Andrew Wyeth, Helga Drawings Vivaldi's Four Seasons The Dream Machine The Wizard of Oz Work of Phillip Pearlstein

This computer workstation has the following general purposes: (a) To generate computer graphics which can be integrated with specific referents in the world of art (by means of video disk) in a postmodernist design aesthetic in which many images and styles are appropriated for new content (b) As a means of data collection for studies in aesthetic preference which involve the testing as well as the presentation of informational sequences from the disk files (c) As self-instructional units in art and design history (d) As a means of aesthetic analyses of a variety of works in art and design (e) For the production of slide items for art and design history courses. The rapid developments in the use of the interactive video disk with a computer system make it possible for both the researcher in art history and aesthetics, as well as the artist, to have direct access by means of a computer to museum collections, exhibitions, and film presentations of the work of many artists. The following video disks are available for use with several computer software systems: • Vincent Van Gogh • The Helga Drawings • The National Gallery of Art

Two individual computer workstations • The Greek Vase (Getty Museum) • The Vermeer Forgeries (Carnegie Mellon University) • Albers Interaction of Color (Pratt Institute) • Works of Phillip Pearlstein In addition, there are plans underway to place the following museums on video disk: • • • •

The The The The

Louvre Phrado Metropolitan Museum British Museum

Within several years there will be adequate resources for the researcher in art and the humanities to be able to analyze and manipulate a wide range of artistic images[2]. The Vermeer Forgeries Disk was developed by Roberr Cavalier and David Carrier of Carnegie Mellon University [ 3 ]. This disk forces a student to make aesthetic judgements and discriminations about an artist's style and how one can make judgements about a real Vermeer work as opposed to a fake. The student plays a detective game to discover differences between the real and the fake Vermeer painting. The Greek Vase Disk was developed by the J. Paul Getty Art Museum to introduce the museum visitor to Classical Greek Art and the subject of Greek Vases. To date its use has been restricted to the Getty Museum as a basic setting. The National Gallery Disk was developed by the museum education department of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. as a means of introduction and orientation to the museum collection. I have used the disk to create aesthetic analyses of various works which have been photographed and then used for design history lectures. A graduate student designed and prepared a unit of study on Picasso and Cubism and on Degas and Impressionism from the National Gallery Disk[10]. The Albers Disk has been prepared by the design department of Pratt Institute to teach color theory. METHOD An IBM infowindow computer is used with a video disk player. The computer has three working levels. Level one is the touch screen which can be used to input decisions and choices. Level two is the main graphics or paint package level upon which, by use of an IBM mouse system, the aesthetic or creative analysis can be introduced. Level three is the level upon which the image from the video disk is displayed. By the use of a see-through color program, one can access either the whole image or part of the disk image. By the use of a printer, one can save a series of images which constitute the design or aesthetic analysis protocols [4 ]. In this system the video disk image is not digitized, but one works on several levels or layers which are displayed one over the other on the computer screen. A current project by this writer is to use the video disk

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of the Helga Drawings with an IBM authoring language called HANDY. This language permits the user to have an easy access to the video disk. Included in this specific project is the dual use of the Handy software as both a means of data collecting for an aesthetic preference study and as a means of giving the student information about the art work. It can be designed as a pre- and posttest situation with the specific treatment (in this case) information about art. The Handy software permits easy storage of responses, and the total data can be transferred to an ANSCI file[5]. The Apple-Mac System for the Mac Two consists of the new Mac CD-Ram, a Sony disk player, and a Sony monitor. With the Mac Two, an Image-Writer 11 can be added. The Apple-Mac System has the advantage of Hypercard. There are Hypercard stacks developed for the National Gallery Disk and for the Van Gogh Disk. Hypercard functions somewhat like Handy on the IBM as a basic access system to the video disk. VAN GOGH PROJECT We are currently using the Van Gogh disk to create a series of aesthetic analyses which can be used in art history slide lectures. For this project we are using Dr. Halo as a graphics package and Pilot as an access language to the video disk image. To date this program has been designed to be interactive [6 ].

Example: Van Gogh "s Old Man on a Chair We begin with a linear analysis of the basic shapes in the painting. This linear analysis achieves two results: to demonstrate the linear quality of the work, and to establish boundaries within which can be used a variety of fill-in procedures in the graphics package. In the case of Van Gogh, we begin to fill in much of the figure or the background areas with fiat colors and textures. This demonstrates the basic power of the shapes which Van Gogh developed in all of his works. What is interesting is that the linear paint texture which one so often ascribes to Van Gogh does not seem to be the key element in his work, rather it is the power of the shapes themselves. The color-fill aspects of the graphics software packages allow one to isolate the line and the shape of the paintings as separate from both color and paint texture [ 7 ]. The research focus of the analysis of Van Gogh's work was to concentrate on the line and shape qualities in Van Gogh's work without the color and texture variables. The results have shown rather dramatically that the aesthetic element of shape is far more characteristic of Van Gogh's work than was realized. No matter how hard one attempts to eliminate almost all traces of Van Gogh's color and texture, the shapes remain to betray the Van Gogh touch. Other aspects of this research have related to the use of the golden section as well as the principles of dynamic symmetry in works of visual arts. A graphics package such as Dr. Halo III can be used to diagram works of art in terms of geometric analysis [ 8 ].

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CREATIVE PRODUCTS In addition to providing an aesthetic analysis of various aspects of Van Gogh's work, we also use the system to create a series of images which, while related to the Van Gogh originals, are also done for a purely creative product. Slides are made of the computer screen, which superimposes a student's creative work on top of the Van Gogh originals. We then use these slides as resources from which I am able to do drawings, prints, or a painting by a system of drawings from the projective image. The problem of hard copies with video disk is a critical one. The images from the video disk can only be displayed on the monitor; they cannot be printed or digitized and directly manipulated in the computer environments. One needs to work with the three levels on the IBM System. Photographs made of the screen are the easiest method to superimpose one level upon another and produce a result [ 9 ]. COLOR ANALYSIS AND DEMONSTRATION One can also demonstrate color effects by changing the background or foreground colors in the paintings. The analysis of the use of color in works of art and design can be enhanced by the use of the computer. This brings up the educational aspect of the interactive video disk environment. Students can be shown what happens to the visual images when colors are changed

and manipulated. The interactive video disk provides a powerful as well as flexible method of visual arts research and teaching in art and design. We have introduced the use of the computer with elementary art education students as a means of both aesthetic analysis and a way to learn art. In this case the focus is not on the computer but on learning various principles of art and design, and the computer only happens to be the media employed [ lO]. REFERENCES 1. S. Bernstein, Computer Graphic Art, Rembold Press, New York (1987). 2. D. Carrier, Teaching of Art History. Leonardo, in press (1988). 3. D. Cartier and R. Cavalier, Manual for Intro Disk Project, Carnegie Mellon, ( 1988 ). 4. H.J. McWhinnie, An analysis of selected graphs software: Technology update. Computer & Graphics, in press. 5. H. J. McWhinnie, The electronic image: Abstraction vs simulation. Leonardo, in press. 6. H. J. McWhinnie, The electronic sketchbook. Computers & Graphics, in press. 7. H. J. McWhinnie and C. Wang, Use of Video Disk in DBAE. Conference Report. 8. H.J. MeWhinnie, A reply to Youngblood, the electronic sketchbook. Viewpoints (1987). 9. H. J. McWhinnie, Use of computers in art education. Viewpoints (1986). 10. C. Wang, Computers and Art Education. Unpublished MA Thesis, University of Maryland ( 1988 ).