Desmond Paul Henry (1921–2004) was one of the pioneers in Computer art. His work looks incredibly contemporary, although it was created with technology that is obsolete by today’s standards. When I discovered this artist on Wikipedia, I was amazed at how much his work resonates with my own.
He utilized what was called a bombsight computer :
The mechanical analogue bombsight computer was employed in World War Two Bomber Aircraft to determine the exact moment bombs were to be released to hit their target. The bombardier entered information on air and wind speed, wind direction, altitude, angle of drift and bomb weight into the computer which then calculated the bomb release point, using a complex arrangement of gyros, motors, gears and a telescope (Jacobs 1996). (source:Wikipedia)
These were utilized to generated imagery output by Henry’s ‘Drawing Machines’ :
Desmond Paul Henry – Picture By Drawing Machine 1
Each Henry drawing machine was based around an analogue bombsight computer in combination with other components which Henry happened to have acquired for his home-based workshop in Whalley Range, Manchester (O’Hanrahan 2005). Each machine took up to six weeks to construct and each drawing from between two hours to two days to complete. (source:Wikipedia)
Click here to visit Henry’s official site.