Hiroshi Kawano (1925-2012) was a pioneering figure in the world of computer art. This article appreciates the contributions that Kawano has made to the development of computer art as a legitimate and respected form of artistic expression.

“A computer can solve an algorithmic problem by digital computing. Therefore, as long as art has an algorithmic procedure, a computer should be able to have its own artistic behavior.” – Hiroshi Kawano, 1975, ‘What is Computer Art?’

He was one of the first artists to use computers as a tool for creating art. He published his first ideas in 1962 and computer-generated images in 1964. Unlike other pioneers in the field, he didn’t study engineering or mathematics, but philosophy and aesthetics. He started to learn how to code using the assembler language and one of the initial key tools Kawano used for his computer art was the OKITAC 5090A. For its time it was a high-speed processing computer with a magnetic core memory of 4096 words.

Kawano used the infrastructure provided by the University of Tokyo and he printed his designs using line printers. Since the outputs were not in colors due to technology constraints, all artworks were hand-colored.

His early designs were based on Markov chains which are a mathematical concept that describe a sequence of possible events in which the probability of each event depends only on the state attained in the previous event. They are used in a wide variety of fields, including statistics, physics, chemistry and economics.

In the field of computer art, Markov chains are used as a tool for creating art that is both random and deterministic. Artists use Markov chains to create algorithms that generate random patterns and shapes, but with a certain degree of predictability. This allows the artist to create art that is not completely random, but still has an element of surprise and unpredictability.

In 1971, he transitioned from working with the Markov model to investigating artificial intelligence. He started to experiment with further media besides images such as AI-created Japanese poetry, sculptures and music. He loved to exchange ideas with other innovators like for example Harold Cohen (developer of the computer program AARON) and Alan C. Shaw (developer of the Picture Description Language PDL).

Kawano stated in 1976 that “it will take long time to promote computer art, during which there would be a period of slow progress”, whereby he saw that AI would lead to a new “progressive period of computer art”.

Kawano's work is not only visually striking but also intellectually stimulating, it challenges the viewer to think about the relationship between technology and art and the ways in which the two can be combined. As computer art continues to evolve, Kawano's pioneer work will remain an important touchstone for understanding the history and potential of this exciting and ever-changing field.

Today, Hiroshi Kawano is one of the lesser-known computer art pioneers, which does not reflect the importance of his work. Kawano wrote over 300 publications across six decades about computer art, network aesthetics and artificial intelligence. He was in close contact with other pioneers such as Michael Noll (*1939), Georg Nees (1926-2016), Frieder Nake (*1938), Herbert W. Franke (1927-2022) and institutions such as the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Kawano was not only a bridge between scientists and artists, but also between Japanese and international innovators.

Hiroshi Kawano donated his artworks and his archive to the Zentrum für Kunst und Medien (ZKM, Center for Art and Media) in Karlsruhe, Germany.

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[Header] Anne and Michael Spalter Digital Art Collection Database
[1] IPSJ Computer Museum
[2] ZKM Karlsruhe
[3] Edinburgh University Press