brad borevitz: machines, software, and art

computers have fascinated me for a long time. i learned to program when I was 16; that was in 1979. my first programming language was FORTRAN. the first computer i used was a VAX 11—but it wasn’t mine and it was so big it had its own room. i encountered the pen plotter back then too—there was something uncanny about how it wrote like i did.

i never studied engineering, computer science, or higher math. but those early experiences with programming shaped my thinking. they made it possible for me to assimilate computational concepts and write enough software to make art.

i did study art. In 2005 i received an MFA from the University of California. i was also at the Independent Study Program of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in 2007. i have been making software art for two decades. i have shown in Los Angeles and New York. i have taught programming to artists and designers at San Francisco State University and California College of Art.

lately, i have taken a renewed interest in plotters. some excellent machines have become available. what i’m selling here are the result of our most recent collaboration.