Fragments of Computer Aesthetics
I often wonder whether sharp lines, grid textures, and monospace types reflect any underlying form of “computer aesthetics,” or are these visual artifacts merely fragments born out of necessity and limitations of 90ies computer graphics? Datasheets with their line traces and block diagrams sure resonate with the geometric explorations of Otl Aicher and Josef Müller-Brockmann. But International Style had already created a world of its own, Platonic realm of ideal forms, long before computer screens finally matched the lithographic print quality. Does this mean that now we can only admire “Die gute form” (as Max Bill used to say), without being able to add or subtract a single iota from it? Or could we extend these in a way that reflects on at least a facet of our digital condition? Though I am hopeful, perhaps the mess of our postmodern experience is too tangled up with itself to be reduced to anything but a single monad.
