A Cultural History of Computer Graphics presents a fundamentally new approach to analyzing digital images aesthetically through the example of 3D computer graphics (CG). While numerous methods for creating digital imagery have long existed, the advent of AI-generated content is causing a rise in debates and conflict. It is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate digital photographs, CG, and AI images, and yet, because these types of images carry different cultural or even political implications, it is becoming increasingly important to do so. In response to the need of new methods to culturally decode digital imagery, this book starts from the production process and describes computer graphics as an independent method of expression, containing a specific ideological concept of realism. Through this study, it becomes clear that a particular understanding of the world is inscribed in computer graphics software development and consequently the image creation process, and it becomes necessary to perceive production aesthetically, hence there is a focus on production aesthetics. In its own unique way, every digital imaging method embodies its own sense of the world. This book will be of great interest to researchers of computer graphics, 3D image generation, and the cultural history of computer-generated imagery.
The book presents a fundamentally new approach to analyzing digital images aesthetically through the example of 3D computer graphics.The primary audience for my book are scholars who are working in the field of digital media studies, new media studies, history of software, and media archaeology.
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The current excitement surrounding images generated by generative AI that look like photographs obscures the fact that there is an older and, for some time to come, arguably more important tradition: photorealistic computer graphics. Research in this field began as early as the 1960s. Scheler traces this development and, more importantly, embeds it in a cultural history of realism. This outstanding study makes a very important contribution to our understanding of today's digital visual culture and, at the same time, allows us to read the traditions that have shaped it. Ultimately, it also succeeds in providing a successful classification of AI-generated images. --Jens Schröter, Chair for Media Studies, University of Bonn
"Computer graphics is a constantly evolving field, presenting new technical opportunities and challenges that demand attention. As such, it is rare to step back and reflect on how intentionality, philosophical perspectives, applied practice and visual culture influence its development, or to consider its broader cultural impact. However, this perspective is essential for recognizing emerging trends, fostering creativity and innovation, agency and collaboration, as well as allowing for more informed and ethically conscious decisions moving forward. As the field of computer graphics undergoes a significant transformation with the rise of machine learning and AI technologies, it is an opportune moment to reflect on how past contributors and practitioners have influenced technological development. Dr. Scheler is uniquely positioned to cast light on the dynamics of agency and cooperation in computer-based art and design, and offers a perspective rooted in the research goals and philosophies of those who pioneered the field. This insight should inspire originality and invite a deeper cultural reflection in future researchers in the fields of technology and cultural history alike." --Vita Berezina-Blackburn, Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design, The Ohio State University
Acknowledgements. Preface. Part 1: Introduction. 1 Methodology and
Structure of the Study. 2 Introductory Overview. Part 2: The Computer as a
Creative Partner: The Early Developments of Computer Graphics at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 3 Ivan E. Sutherlands Sketchpad and
the Birth of the "Universal" Computer Drawing. 4 Parallel Developments: The
Computer in the Fine Arts and Design of the 1960s. 5 Steven A. Coons: A New
Confluence between Man and Machine. Part 3: University of Utah: The Cradle of
Contemporary 3D Computer Graphics. 6 A Common Goal: 3D Computer Graphics
between Credibility and Realism. 7 Opacity, Light and Animation: A Strategy
for Realizing the Common Goal. Part 4: Realism in US Visual Culture. 8
Pixars Realism: Edwin Catmull as a Bridge between Production Aesthetics and
Visual Aesthetics. 9 The Tangibility of Things: Feeling and Precision in
Painting. Part 5: Retrieving 3D Computer Graphics Lost "Context of Meaning".
10 Technological Progress and Image Practice in the United States. 11 On the
Cultural-Historical Background of Synthetic Imaging. 12 Conclusion. 13 A
Brief Outlook: What About AI? Figures. List of Films. Bibliography. Glossary.
Index. Organizational Chart of the Historiography.
Carolin Scheler is a researcher in the fields of digital visual culture, media archaeology, and animation studies, currently planning a postdoctoral research project. Her educational background is in the practical field of 3D animation and cultural theory, which she studied at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hanover, Germany, and the Ohio State University, USA. From 2015 to 2018 she worked as a research assistant at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hanover in the Department of Media, Information, and Design. During the same period, she was also a research assistant at the Institute of Fine Arts and Art History at the University of Hildesheim, where she later earned her doctorate in the Department of Cultural Studies and Aesthetic Communication in 2022. As part of the Research Training Group Aesthetic Practice her scholarly work was funded by the German Research Foundation in the years from 2019 to 2022. Since 2022, Carolin Scheler has been a lecturer in cultural theory at the University of the Arts Bremen in the Department of Art and Design. She has also been working as a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hanover in the Department of Media, Information, and Design since 2018. At these universities, she teaches in the field of digital media studies, animation theory, art theory, humor theory, and academic writing as well as supervising BAs and MAs.
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