Tom Defanti on glitch: “Absolute Cheapest 01 Can Go w/ Home Computer Art” -1979

2011.08.26 Tom Defanti on glitch: “Absolute Cheapest 01 Can Go w/ Home Computer Art” -1979

This piece represents the absolute cheapest one can go with home computer art. This involves taking a $300 video game system, pounding it with your fist so the cartridge pops out while its trying to write the menu. The music here is by Dick Ainsworth, using the same system, but pounding it with your fingers instead of your fists…

Digital TV Dinner is a video art clip from 1979 created by Raul Zaritsky, Jamie Fenton, and Dick Ainsworth using the Bally Astrocade console game to generate unusual patterns.

The Bally Astrocade was unique among cartridge games in that it was designed to allow users to change game cartridges with power-on. When pressing the reset button, it was possible to remove the cartridge from the system and induce various memory dump pattern sequences. DIgital TV DInner is a collection of these curious states of silicon epilepsy set to music composed and generated upon this same platform.

DTV first appeared at an Electronic VIsualization Festival in Chicago, and we hear the voice of Dr. Thomas Defanti introducing this item to the audience.

From jamiefayefenton on YouTube
Via Ryan Schweitzer (Thnx!)

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