In the Spotlight at NMC is “Csuri Vision,” a website dedicated to the art and ideas of Charles Csuri. Professor Emeritus at NMC member The Ohio State University, Csuri is widely known as “the father of digital art.” As Smithsonian Magazine reported in February, 1995, “Charles Csuri is an 'Old Master' in a new medium. In the short history of computer art, there are no Rembrandts or even Piccasos. But there is Prof. Charles Csuri at Ohio State University, who may be the nearest thing, in this new art form, to an Old Master.”

Csuri Vision was created by Kevin Reagh who has displayed Csuri’s work in the form of imagery, galleries, text, and navigation. The website provides a rich online exhibition of Csuri work in three gallery areas.

The “Art” section exhibits Csuri’s images in three series entitled “Scribbles,” “Surfaces,” and “Glass. “ The images in this section were created by using computer programs written in AL language, developed by Dr. Steve May, now at Pixar, Inc., for his dissertation research at The Ohio State University. As the web site details in the “Info” area, “the AL language is an extension of Scheme. Scheme is a LISP-like language which is powerful and general purpose, but relatively easy to learn and use. It is a environment for procedural computer animation which provides powerful modeling language, a language interpreter, and a set of interactive animation tools. In addition, AL provides a complete interface to RenderMan compliant renderers including PhotoRealistic RenderMan (tm) and BMRT.”

The “Playground” section showcases Csuri’s interactive series of works on Sketchpad, INFINITY, and VRML. As Csuri describes it, “VRML provides a highly efficient format for describing simple and complex 3D objects and worlds.” The “Info” section provides a narrative detailing the history, ideas, and techniques behind Charles Csuri’s work.

NMC members who attended the 2002 Summer Conference will remember they were treated to a special exhibition of Csuri’s work. With the creation of this site, the art of this “old master” is now accessible to all of us. For more information about Csuri Vision, please visit the site at http://www.csurivision.com