Computer Art and Technocultures (CAT): evaluating the Patric Prince Collection in the Digital Age

The Patric Prince Collection is a unique record of crucial developments in the digital arts from its origins to the 1990s. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1970s to the early 1990s, a period that saw the introduction of the desktop PC and all current computer graphics systems, as well as the consolidation of computer imagery and special effects across a wide range of graphic industries. The compiler, Patric Prince, is a California-based art historian who quickly realised the value of collecting and documenting the work of emerging computer artists. In addition, her husband was head of computer imaging at the Jet Propulsion Lab. As a SIGGRAPH Art Show organiser from 1982 onwards, she established the contacts that enabled her to compile an extensive personal archive of actual art works, plus documentation, correspondence and taped interviews with computer artists and graphics pioneers. Since its inception, SIGGRAPH has been the international focal point for emerging digital visual technologies.

The results of Patric's industrious work filled 50 boxes when the entire collection was brought to the V&A during 2005-6, as the result of an agreement assisted by the CACHe Project (Computer Arts Contexts Histories etc). CACHe covered early computer art in the period 1960-1980, mainly from a British perspective. The PP Collection dovetails chronologically and enlarges its horizons to include material from North America, Europe, Japan and elsewhere. It contains line plotter drawings, screen prints, inkjet prints, posters, photographs, books, manuscripts and a wide range of ephemera. These are mainly works on paper, with examples in other media, including 3D images and computer files. Themes already explored by CACHe, including the emergence of recognisable computer styles and the close linkage of graphics technology and computer art, are expanded in the Collection.
The Project intends to make this invaluable archive widely available online for scholars of art and technology, and also to the increasing number of digital artists and graphics professionals who need a basic grounding in the evolution of their field. This will include ca. 250 artworks, highlights from the 4,000 documents in searchable formats, and the taped interviews as digital files. These will be freely accessible through a database hosted by the AHDS and at the V&A itself, which will also have high-resolution digital surrogates of the collection.
The project is envisaged in six-month segments, beginning with a pilot period that will take a representative cross-section of all material and digitise it to establish our modus operandi. During this pilot period we will carry out a general survey of the material in order to prioritise the most significant and historically important items. This will also enable the team members to adapt to their roles and establish our reporting structure. Initially we will have fortnightly meetings, to be followed by monthly meetings.
As the Collection is digitised and catalogued at the V&A, its contents will be researched at Birkbeck to investigate the relation of specific artworks and artists to theories of technocultures, hypermedia and transmediation. The works will also be fitted into a detailed chronology to establish a comparative history of the parallel forms of computer art from different countries.
A number of public outcomes are anticipated in addition to the online database. The major outcome will be a display that incorporates highlights from the Patric Prince material, to be held at the V&A in 2010-11. This will give an authoritative historical background to digital art. It is anticipated that some or all of the exhibited material will then travel in the UK and/or North America.
A detailed catalogue will be produced with a dozen essays by the project contributors and invited scholars. Journal papers will also be produced. We will also hold an historical panel session at SIGGRAPH 2010.