Electric Dreams: Nov 2024 - June 2025 Posted: 03 November 2024
A Henry picture (no.636) from the Anne and Michael Spalter Digital Art Collection is to be included
in what has been described as Tate Modern's "most ambitious" exhibition to date, called: "Electric Dreams"
Tate Modern, Nov. 28, 2024-June 1st, 2025; curator Valentina Ravaglia.
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/electric-dreams
Elaine, together with husband Sean, son Liam and his partner Caterina Mansueto, will be attending the exhibition's
private view on Nov.26, 2024.
Digital Art: 1960s - Now Posted: 03 November 2024
October 2024:
Alongside recognised figures of digital art history, Henry features in the opening chapter (1960s-1970s) of a new digital art history publication by the V&A:
"Digital Art: 1960s-Now," (Thames & Hudson).
Douglas Dodds is the author of this chapter, which not only sports a full page Henry machine-drawing (p.17)
but which also has Dodds refer to Henry's machine-generated art as consisting of :
"surprisingly elegant and complex curves" (Dodds, p.19).
Henry is also sole entry for the year 1961,(p.169) in the book's most comprehensive digital art history time-line.
Talk to Computer Conservation Society Posted: 03 November 2024
September 24, 2024:
Hybrid Talk to the Computer Conservation Society (North-West)
On the suggestion of Professor Paul Brown, Elaine approached Bob Geatrell of the CCS who agreed to her presenting
her first hybrid talk entitled:
"Artist meets Bombsight: Manchester's 1960's Computer Art Pioneer,
Desmond Paul Henry (1921-2004)."
In attendance was a live audience of about 12
with 24 participants online via Zoom.
The response was generally very positive and encouraging.
A recording of the talk is available here: https://youtu.be/6TzXTMBVJS0
New Generations exhibition in Leicester Posted: 16 March 2024
Nov 23 to Jan 24
Two Henry pictures were exhibited in New Generations, at The Lightbox Gallery, Leicester, as part of a generative art exhibition of work by artists responding to artworks in the Computer Arts Archive. Paul Mazzitelli was inspired to base his artwork on that of Desmond Paul Henry.
Henry and MONADS Posted: 07 March 2023
Possible link between Philosophy and Henry's machine-generated art?
A former Philosophy follower of Henry's has perhaps thrown light on a link between Henry's pictures and Leibniz's system of metaphysics involving MONADS.
This student, Christopher Coope, emailed Elaine O'Hanrahan the following on Nov 29, 2022:
“And when the time came to make sense of what Leibniz had in mind by a "monad," assuming this possible, he (Henry) had recourse to one of his machine drawings. Up it came on the screen, and bingo! one got the idea.”
In Leibniz’s system of metaphysics, monads are immaterial basic substances, similar to atoms, that make up the universe. Monads are all perfectly synchronised with each other by God in a 'preestablished harmony', which was also a favourite saying of my father's when things "magically seemed to come together for the best" (Henry quote).
Each monad is a unique, soul-like entity, like one of Henry's machine-drawings?