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> Interview Vincent Baby & Pierre Braun
Vincent Baby discusses the evolution of computer art since the 60s, notably through the work of pioneers such as Vera Molnar. The interview explores how artists have integrated artificial creativity into their creative process, in relation to artistic practices such as Minimalism.
Vincent Baby is art historian at INHA (French National Institute of Art History), who has collaborated on numerous exhibitions devoted to Vera Molnar, both as curator and author.
The PRINTSCREEN exhibition presents a second aspect of Pierre Braun's work, highlighting the research he carried out during the year of his DEA in Plastic Arts, defended in October 1985 under the direction of, among others, François Molnar.
Using the BFM 186 microcomputer, the artist explored the fundamentals of graphic visualization and three-dimensional modeling. Moving away from the sophisticated renderings that were beginning to emerge at the time, he adopted a pared-down approach, favoring a minimalist aesthetic that focuses on the precision of shapes and composition in space.
This microcomputer, with its high graphics resolution, was specially designed for computer-aided design (CAD) applications, offering at the time a unique capability for precision graphics work. In this series, research into screen printing using a matrix printer (OKI 80), at a time when direct export via software was still limited, reflects the evolution of graphic visualization.
By determining the essential rules of composition in a multi-dimensional space, Pierre Braun turned away from the trends of the time, notably hyper-realistic 3D renderings, which were unsuitable for a research project focused on purity.
This thoughtful choice enabled him to create works that, even today, bear witness to the way in which these 80s graphics have survived the ages, remaining relevant and influential in the contemporary context of generative art. This exhibition highlights the contribution of these works not only to the technological advances of the time, but also to the ongoing evolution of graphic visualization tools and methods.
Pierre Braun was born in Paris in 1961. A visual artist, teacher and researcher with a PhD in Art Sciences, he has been practicing computer-programmed drawing since the 1980s. His creations question the impact of machine time on our sensibility, on the way we write or trace. After the initial experiments of the 60s and 70s, he belongs to the second generation of artists exploring artistic creation through code, seeking to push back the traditional boundaries of drawing.
From 1981, he practiced programmed drawing at Jussieu and then joined François Molnar's psychophysiology of perception laboratory, also collaborating with Vera Molnar between 1984 and 1986. Through an algorithmic approach, he questions creative processes and explores the aesthetic potential of generative drawing, manipulating code and data materiality to redefine graphic possibilities.
