“THER IS A VERY INSISTENT NOISE FROM THE MACHINES IN HERE”: Theorizing Digital Media through Greg Curnoe’s Computer Journals

Abstract

Background This article explores the Canadian artist Greg Curnoe’s experiments with computer-based composition with an emphasis on the Computer Journals project (1969–1971). The Computer Journals project is situated in relation to the art scene in London, Ontario, the development of computer art during the late 1960s, and contemporary theories of technology and culture. Analysis It is argued that the project elaborates an innovative analysis of the relationship between technology and creativity that offers a critical understanding of power, agency, and expression. Conclusion and implications It is suggested that a return to Curnoe’s computer-based work offers an alternative to dominant schools of media theory and the philosophy of technology in Canada during the second half of the twentieth century, as well as anticipating contemporary discussions of digital media and creativity.