Kenneth Charles Knowlton (June 6, 1931 – June 16, 2022) was an American computer graphics pioneer, artist, mosaicist and portraitist. In 1963, while working at
Bell Labs
Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984),
then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996)
and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007),
is an American industrial Research and development, research and scientific developm ...
, he developed the
BEFLIX
The name derives from a combination of ''Bell Flicks''.
Ken Knowlton used BEFLIX to create animated films for educational and engineering purposes.
He also collaborated with the artist Stan Vanderbeek at Bell Labs to create a series of computer-an ...
programming language for creating bitmap computer-produced movies. In 1966, also at Bell Labs, he and
Leon Harmon created the computer artwork ''Computer Nude (Studies in Perception I)''.
Early life and education
Kenneth Charles Knowlton was born to Frank and Eva (Reith) Knowlton in
Springville, New York
Springville is a village in the southeastern section of the town of Concord in Erie County, New York, United States. Springville is the principal community in the town and a major business location in southern Erie County. The population was 4,2 ...
, on June 6, 1931. He completed
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
one year early, then entered
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
to study
engineering physics
Engineering physics, or engineering science, refers to the study of the combined disciplines of physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, particularly computer, nuclear, electrical, electronic, aerospace, materials or mechanical en ...
. After finishing his undergraduate degree, he continued to a master's degree.
He completed his M.S. in 1955; the title of his thesis was "X-Ray Microscopy with a Modified RCA Electron Microscope."
In 1962, Knowlton earned his
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
in 1962 under the supervision of
Victor Yngve
Victor H. Yngve (July 5, 1920 – January 15, 2012W. John HutchinVictor Yngve obituary aclweb.org; accessed August 15, 2017.) was professor of linguistics at the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1953-1965). H ...
. His thesis was titled "Sentence Parsing with a Self-Organizing Heuristic Program".
Career
In 1963, Knowlton developed the
BEFLIX
The name derives from a combination of ''Bell Flicks''.
Ken Knowlton used BEFLIX to create animated films for educational and engineering purposes.
He also collaborated with the artist Stan Vanderbeek at Bell Labs to create a series of computer-an ...
(Bell Flicks) programming language for bitmap computer-produced movies, created using an
IBM 7094 computer and a
Stromberg-Carlson 4020 microfilm recorder. Each frame contained eight shades of grey and a resolution of 252 x 184. Knowlton worked with artists, including
Stan VanDerBeek and
Lillian Schwartz
Lillian F. Schwartz (born 1927) is an American artist considered a pioneer of computer-mediated art and one of the first artists notable for basing almost her entire oeuvre on computational media. Many of her ground-breaking projects were done in t ...
. He and VanDerBeek created the
Poem Field animations. Knowlton also created another programming language named
EXPLOR (EXplicit Patterns, Local Operations and Randomness).
In 1966, he prepared an animated film as an introduction to the Bell Telephone Laboratories' Low-Level Linked List Language (L
6).
In 1966, Knowlton and
Leon Harmon were experimenting with
photomosaics, creating large prints from collections of small symbols or images. In ''Computer Nude (Studies in Perception I'') they created an image of a reclining nude (choreographer
Deborah Hay
Deborah Hay (born 1941 in Brooklyn, New York) is a choreographer, dancer, dance theorist, and author working in the field of experimental postmodern dance. She is one of the original founders of the Judson Dance Theater. Hay's signature slow and ...
),
by scanning a photograph with a camera and converting the analog voltages to binary numbers, which were assigned typographic symbols based on halftone densities. It was printed in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' on October 11, 1967, as the first full frontal nude published in the paper, and exhibited at one of the earliest computer art exhibitions, ''The Machine as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age'', held at the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
from November 25, 1968, through February 9, 1969.
[ The artwork in ''Studies in Perception'' also launched Robert Rauschenberg's ]Experiments in Art and Technology Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), a non-profit and tax-exempt organization, was established in 1967 to develop collaborations between artists and engineers. The group operated by facilitating person-to-person contacts between artists and e ...
(E.A.T.). In 1969, Knowlton and Harmon continued the series with ''Gulls (Studies in Perception II)'' and ''Gargoyle (Studies in Perception III)''.
Knowlton's work had been previously exhibited at ''Cybernetic Serendipity'', an exhibition held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...
in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
from August 2 to October 20, 1968.
Knowlton co-invented Ji Ga Zo with Mark Setteducati, released in the United States on March 30, 2011. Ji Ga Zo is a puzzle in which the user assembles a mosaic from 300 shaded pieces to form a digitized image from the user's own photograph.
Technology historian Jim Boulton worked with Knowlton to reconstruct the algorithm used to generate ''Studies in Perception I'', which was used to make a remastered version of the original work in 2016. As a fundraiser for Rhizome, Knowlton and Boulton used the algorithm in 2022 to generate a portrait of E.A.T. director Julie Martin, ''Studies in Perception IV: Julie Martin.''
Personal life and death
Knowlton had three sons and two daughters from his first marriage to Roberta Behrens, which ended in divorce. His second wife, Barbara Bean, died before him. He died at a hospice facility in Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...
, on June 16, 2022, ten days after his 91st birthday.
References
External links
KenKnowlton.com
Dr. Knowlton's Personal site: general information, writings etc.
Knowlton Mosaics
Ken Knowlton Artworks
"Bell Labs & the Origins of the Multimedia Artist", 1998
''Portrait of the Artist as a Young Scientist'', by Ken Knowlton
Digital Art Guild, 2004
* ttp://pratt.edu/~llaurola/cg550/cg.htm Images of ''Studies in Perception 1'' and ''Studies in Perception: Gargoyle''; image of frame from ''Poem Field''br>Images created with patterns from a printer, by Michael Noll and Ken Knowlton of Bell Labs in New Jersey
List of works held by the Victoria and Albert Museum
Further reading
* Reichardt, Jasia. ''Cybernetic Serendipity: the Computer and the Arts''. London: Studio international, 1968. New York: Praeger, 1969.
* Hultén, K.G. Pontus. ''The Machine as Seen at the End of Mechanical Age''. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1968.
* Anderson, S.E., and John Halas. ''Computer Animation''. New York: Hastings House, 1974.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowlton, Ken
1931 births
2022 deaths
Scientists at Bell Labs
Computer graphics professionals
People from Springville, New York