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The Stromberg-Carlson S-C 4020 microfilm plotter, one of the earliest devices to visualize computational data, is the central actor in Zabet Patterson’s succinct and well-written book. Art writers rarely place these peripherals center-stage, preferring a hastily labeled model number to a comprehensive treatment. Top billing typically goes to IBM’s famed 7000 series of mainframes. By resisting such a well-worn path, Patterson sheds new light on how one unnoticed computational system has contributed to the rich history of digital art and graphics production. The author explains how these peripherals, like the colossal mainframes to which they were connected, have their own complex material and cultural history. But what makes Patterson’s story even more gratifying is the choice of Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, as the locale for her tale. Set during the 1960s, widely considered the halcyon days of Bell Labs’ creative phase, the author draws a connective thread through a collection of canonical computer artworks all produced using the S-C 4020 microfilm plotter.
The book examines the role the S-C 4020 played in the creation of film and graphic works completed at Bell...