Vertical-horizontal number three

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V&A South Kensington
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E

Artist/Maker	A. Michael Noll (computer artist)
Place of origin	New Jersey (made)

This is a photographic print of a computer-generated image originally created by A. Michael Noll at Bell Labs, Murray Hill, New Jersey. Noll has explained that "The position of the end points of the lines was chosen at random with a uniform probability density. One of the coordinates was then changed alternately to create horizontal and vertical lines."

Object details

Categories	Computer Art Photographs
Object type	Photograph
Title	Vertical-horizontal number three (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques	Photography Photography
Brief description	Photographic print, 'Vertical-Horizontal Number Three', by A. Michael Noll, New Jersey, ca.1962
Physical description	Photograph of a continuous and overlapping black line forming rectangles and squares on a white background.
Dimensions	Height: 28cm Length: 21.8cm
Gallery label	(07/07/2018-18/11/2018) Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers (2018) A. MICHAEL NOLL (born 1939) Vertical-Horizontal Number Three USA, made 1962–63, printed 1970s At the suggestion of Bell Labs, Noll attempted to copyright some of his images a few years after he first produced them. The US copyright office initially refused his request, stating that random works could not be copyrighted. After Noll explained that the randomness was calculated by the program, his application was granted. Photographic print of a computer-generated image Given by the artist Museum no. E.36-2011
Credit line	Gift of A. Michael Noll © AMN 1965
Summary	This is a photographic print of a computer-generated image originally created by A. Michael Noll at Bell Labs, Murray Hill, New Jersey. Noll has explained that "The position of the end points of the lines was chosen at random with a uniform probability density. One of the coordinates was then changed alternately to create horizontal and vertical lines."
Collection	Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number	E.36-2011

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Record created	March 28, 2011
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1193788/vertical-horizontal-number-three-photograph-a-michael-noll/

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