Aldo Giorgini (March 15, 1934 – October 1994) was an Italian artist and a pioneer in computer graphics. He is the father of music producer

Mass Giorgini Massimiliano Adelmo Giorgini (born 1968) is an American bassist and record producer who rose to fame when several of the bands he produced experienced huge gains in popularity during the pop-punk boom of the mid-'90s. Among these bands was Giorg ...

and Flav Giorgini.

Biography

Giorgini was born in

Voghera The Castle of Voghera in a 19th-century etching. Voghera ( Vogherese dialect of Emilian: ''Vughera''; Latin: ''Forum Iulii Iriensium'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy. The population was 39,374 ...

, in the

province of Pavia The province of Pavia ( it, Provincia di Pavia) is a province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy; its capital is Pavia. , the province has a population of 548,722 inhabitants and an area of ; the town of Pavia has a population of 72,205. ...

(northern Italy). He was a high school classmate of fashion designer Valentino, who was also a student of design of Ernestina Salvadeo, Giorgini's maternal aunt. Formally trained by Italian futurist painter-sculptor

Ambrogio Casati Ambrogio Casati (December 27, 1897 – July 19, 1977) was an Italian painter. He was born in Voghera, Italy in 1897 and was schooled in Paris in the plastic arts. Upon his return to Italy, he became associated with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti a ...

, Giorgini stayed on with his mentor as an apprentice, and assisted in the restoration of classic works by old masters damaged during the Second World War. Simultaneously attending university coursework outside of his work in the arts, Giorgini earned a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from

Politecnico di Torino The Polytechnic University of Turin ( it, Politecnico di Torino) is the oldest Italian public technical university. The university offers several courses in the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning and Industrial Design, and is co ...

before travelling to the United States on a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

. There, Giorgini earned a second doctorate, this time a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, and accepted a professorial position in the School of Civil Engineering at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

in West Lafayette, Indiana. He moved to Lafayette, Indiana, on 22 December 1968. At Purdue University, he won several awards and distinctions as an outstanding teacher of

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and bio ...

and

engineering mathematics Engineering mathematics is a branch of applied mathematics concerning mathematical methods and techniques that are typically used in engineering and industry. Along with fields like engineering physics and engineering geology, both of which may be ...

at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He regularly included aesthetics lectures in his engineering courses, saying that "to be technical and scientific does not preclude a concern for the beauty and art of image and form. Architecture and engineering both occupy the same continuum: mathematics can be beautiful, and shapes can be useful." Once established in this new position, Giorgini resumed his artistic work, combining his technical expertise with computers from his engineering training with his background in the visual arts, thereby becoming one of the first computer artists. His pioneering computer art was generated on the

mainframe computer (CDC) and printed onto large Mylar sheets using Calcomp printers. Giorgini would then hand-ink the works of art to complete the works he called examples of "computer-aided art". A childhood prisoner of war in

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

himself during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Giorgini often imbued his works with anti-war themes, frequently combining these with critiques of the use of technology for mass destruction. A number of his works are in the permanent collections of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

and the Carnegie-Mellon Art Museum. Aldo Giorgini died in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, in October 1994, of brain cancer.

References

External links

"Giorgini Connects Art, Science." 1974 Article on Aldo Giorgini"Aldo Giorgini," Chapter from 1975 book ''The Artist and the Computer'', by Ruth Leavitt.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giorgini, Aldo 1934 births 1994 deaths People from Voghera Italian artists