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Echoes from the Cloister, 1969
Documentation of a 1969 algorithmic animation film clip.
This clip is shown here for its historic interest.
Right: Computer monitor at Univac, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, 1969. The brief introductory film clip from my lecture in the Public Television broadcast series, "Echoes from the cloister", was made from this monitor. The series was presented in the winter of 1969-1970 on Twin City Public Television, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Documentation: I have not been able to document either the computer or the software. I hold the origin 35 mm film and have translated it into a DVD format. I recall needing security clearance for making the film as the computer was designed for the U.S. Navy. If anyone can provide information I would greatly appreciate your help.
Roman Verostko <contact>Right: The sequence used for introducing the lecture was an algorithmic sequence showing a cube rotating on its axis and spiraling to infinity and back. The sequence, joined to electronic music, served as a brief graphic introduction lasting about 30 seconds. Software for the sequence is unknown.
Notes on the rationale for this film sequence:
When I made this sequence I was not aware of the profound impact this experience would have on my later studio work. This was one of several experiences that led me to see the awesome power of algorithmic procedure implemented with computing power.
The lecture. Shortly after arriving in Minnesota to teach at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design I had the privilege of being invited to participate in a lecture series featuring the work of the monks at St. John's Abbey. My lecture addressed the illuminations in the then recently established microfilm collection of medieval manuscripts located in the Hill Manuscript Library at St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. This lecture was one of about 8 weekly Public Television presentations covering a wide range of cultural contributions by the monks.
For this lecture I had access to the library and was able to make slides of the illuminations of interest. The collection includes a wealth of manuscripts that were microfilmed from originals in Austrian and German monastic libraries. Perhaps the most outstanding illuminations held in 1969 were those of the Kremsmünster Codex Millenarius (dated c.800). (See Notes 1 & 2)
To introduce the medieval illuminations I included the brief algorithmic animation up front for two reasons: (1) I hoped to attract viewer attention with the electronic music and animation demonstrating a newly emerging graphic frontier. (2) The sequence provided a provocative lead into the subject matter. I pointed out that just as this animation was on the cutting edge of graphic form in our day so also were the manuscript illuminations I was about to show on the cutting edge of the art of their day. "If the monks were living today", I noted, "they would be exploring this new media for illuminating their most treasured texts".
Since that time my interest in algorithmic procedures led me to develop my own electronic scriptorium, a studio with several pen plotters, scribes, for executing my coded instructions. The ideas used to introduce that lecture in 1969 took shape, over a decade later, in the form of my Diamond Lake Apocalypse series (1990 ff) and the Pearl Park Scriptures (2005 ff).
Note 1. The Codex Millenarius contains all four Gospels in Latin translation and has been used in liturgy up to this day. Its priceless value is based on in its age, its elegant Carolingian script and its illuminations. This Codex includes eight full-page miniatures depicting the four Evangelists and their symbols, the four relevant sumptuous initials introducing the Gospel texts, and a few remainders of the canon tables.
Note 2. The microfilm project in Austria and Germany was guided by Father Oliver Kapsner, OSB, a bibliographer committed to documenting the work of Benedictine monks. I had the good fortune of getting to know him during a period when he worked on a bibliography of work by Benedictines in the United States. At that time he was resident at the monastery at St. Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, Pa. ( ca. 1954-59) while he labored on the bibliographies of the monks in America.
I recall evening walks when we shared mutual interests on history. Later, as an encyclopedist, I recall how much I admired, used, and respected his work. When offered to present the lecture on his microfilm collection I was honored and deeply touched by the privilege.
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