After reading “Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins” by Beverly Jones, I think the main thesis of it is that even though we are in the modern world now, the old pattern of art is still influencing the artists nowadays. She talked through the timeline which how old and new ideas and material are merged, and how they related and influenced each other. She stated that “old cultural patterns may fade or become more evident; that is they may be deemphasized or emphasized” (Jones 51). The history is the fundament of today. I said that because I think this is how everything works since people are influenced by past naturally. She proved her points by using several examples include egg tempura paintings are the origin of oil paintings, and earlier papyrus columns are the origin of stone columns of ancient Egyptian architecture (Jones 51). She also illustrated her point by explaining how two dimensional graphic imagery in the past changed to three dimensional graphic imagery now. Like she said “with the development of ray-tracing techniques, particle systems, and other techniques depicting three dimensional world and dynamic systems within it, technical imagery outstripped the planar illusionism previously practiced by artists” (Jones 54). Computer scientists and artists, I never thought that these two areas have overlap before I read Jones’ article. But I find out that they actually have a lot common things in terms of building modern world. Computer scientists take charge on technique limits while artists worked on the content of work. When I thought about it in this way, the first example came into my mind was cartoons. I am not sure about the specific origin of cartoon, but I know we used comic strip to tell stories or express mind. A very famous cartoon called Slamdunk is an example. It was drawn by hand on paper in comic strip, and people use technology and make it into two dimensional cartoon, now they are re-formed it into three dimensional graphic imagery. Computer scientists cannot do it without artists who created this cartoon, and artists cannot achieve this without computer scientists who deal with technique problems. I always believe that past influences present, and this is probably true in every area. With the development of society, we would have more and more overlaps among other areas, and they would bring us a brighter future.
References:
Jones, B. J. (1990). Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins. LEONARDO: Digital Image –Digital Cinema Supplemental Issue, pp. 21-30.