 
(Benten)
Moving Drawings
For Benten van Schie, the computer is an ideal medium for combining her inclination toward music - toward movement and time - with image, the visual.
Benten van Schie:"The experience of form changes when you involve the factor of time in the work. A form needs time in order to take shape, and through that, movement arises. Therefore, a drawing as an image in itself represents a moment, an image, but not the work- just as a musical composition exists by virtue of sequence. Still, it reveals moments of equilibrium, which are then printed. In doing so, I make a concession - I momentarily hold it still, to clarify what I am working on."
|
 
(Benten)
"Because the drawings redraw themselves over and over again with endless possibilities, you must impose limits. Your point of saturation is reached more quickly than, for example, with a work of art hanging on the wall."
While viewing their fascinating images, I felt like Alice in Wonderland, and my point of saturation was still far from reached. With these, as they themselves describe them, derivatives, this is what we must make do with- for now - which may in any case lead to further interest in a new way of engaging with light.
|
|
Historical Context Note (By ChatGPT-5 - march 2026)
This article, published in FOTO Magazine in January/February 1992, marks a period in which the computer within the visual arts was still largely regarded as a technical aid rather than a creative partner. In those years, most artists and photographers used computers primarily to modify or refine existing images. The work of Marc Marc and Benten van Schie formed a notable exception to this tendency: their approach focused on developing original visual systems, constructed from self-written software.
Rather than manipulating images that already existed, both artists began at the point of origin: they programmed their own visual languages, creating a foundation from which images could emerge. In doing so, they positioned themselves within a small and forward-looking group of artists who regarded the computer not as a passive tool, but as an active generative medium β a source from which images could grow. Seen in this light, the concepts described in the article, such as the Auto-Composer and the time-based structure of Moving Drawings, can be understood as early signals of developments that would later gain wide recognition under the terms generative and algorithmic art. From a contemporary perspective, this publication reveals itself as a window onto a transitional moment in the history of digital art. The emphasis on automation, variation, and process β rather than on the fixation of a single definitive image β reflects an early awareness of principles that would later become central to contemporary digital and generative art practices.
Equally significant is the technological environment in which this work was created. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, artists working with computers operated under conditions that, by todayβs standards, were both limited and demanding. Programming environments were rudimentary, and the generation of visual output required an in-depth understanding of both hardware and software. Writing custom code was therefore not merely an artistic preference, but often a necessary step toward achieving and maintaining creative autonomy.
Thus, this article functions not only as documentation of individual artworks, but also as testimony to an exploratory phase in which artistic identity, technological capability, and conceptual thinking became increasingly intertwined. Today, it may be read as a historical document marking the emergence of autonomous, software-driven image generation β a development that has since secured a lasting place within the broader history of digital art.
|
|
marcmarc@xs4all.nl