The Computer Arts Archive
Sean Clark

Summary

In "The Computer Arts Archive", Sean Clark traces the history of the Computer Arts Society from its 1968 founding after Cybernetic Serendipity, through its early phase, its 1985 hiatus, and its revival in 2004 as a BCS specialist group. He explains how research projects such as CACH and CATS preserved the Society's early archives, many of which now reside at the V&A, and how he has used the CAS website to publish complete runs of PAGE magazine, founder John Lansdown's articles, and exhibition documentation. He describes the CAS50 collection, created to mark the Society's fiftieth anniversary, which grew through two phases to include 24 artists before being expanded with a Harold Cohen work for Event Two at the RCA in 2019. He argues that the art which survives is the art that is collected and preserved, and outlines a tiered collecting strategy covering prints, video works, screen-based pieces, and eventually installations. To secure this work for the future, he established the Computer Arts Archive as a Community Interest Company in 2020, with a Leicester office, Arts Council support, and plans to develop further collections, reimagine early artworks, and explore the under-documented 1980s and 1990s.

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