Cybernetic Serendipity: A Documentation, ICA

We’ve all heard the rumour that each of our mobile phones has more computing power than NASA put to work on 1969’s Apollo 11 moon landing mission. True or not, it is extraordinary how computing has developed, and how it has changed the way we view imagery.

Cybernetic Serendipity, London 1968

It’s timely then that the ICA is celebrating Cybernetic Serendipity – an exhibition that truly deserved the epithet ‘cutting edge’ in 1968 when it considered the growing intersection between computers and art. ‘Where in London could you take a hippy, a computer programmer, a ten-year-old schoolboy and guarantee that each would be perfectly happy for an hour…?’ asked the Evening Standard at the time. In 1968 it was a rousing success and a good fit in a year that was characterised by political renewal. This time round, you’ll be able to see all the archives for Cybernetic Serendipity – the old documents, books and papers relating to the show - and there's a programme of events to bring all the issues raised by the earlier show up to date.

Cybernetic Serendipity, the computer and the arts

A boffin’s feast, but don’t leave it to the IT crowd. Cybernetic Serendipity was incredibly important, curated by Jasia Reichardt, it was the most comprehensive exhibition of computer-related art at the time and had a great array of exhibits that must have seemed almost miraculous: science fiction come to life. In one section there were music essays and poems created by computers. Elsewhere Gustav Metzger, famous for having inspired The Who, showed his self-destructing objects, while nearby you could find Swiss kinetic artist Jean Tinguely's painting machines. Korean media-art master Nam June Paik exhibited his extraordinary assemblage Robot K-456 and his signature distorted televisions, and Bruce Lacey (artist seen at the Camden Arts Centre in 2012), showed his astounding and hilarious radio-controlled droids. 

Vastly influential, and a boon to the revitalised ICA under director Gregor Muir, this exhibition is a whole new perspective on the thriving world of art and science collaborations.