81 Year Old Artist Still Using Her Amiga 1000 (not what you think)

[Pentad]

Slashdot has a link to a neat documentary on artist Samia Halby who bought an Amiga 1000 in 1985 and still uses it to create art. The twist?  She creates her art with programming in Basic and C.

You can watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDfIkXf3uzA


-P

[Pentad]

I find it impressive that a 33 year old computer is still working fine and the artist is still able to use it without issue. How many of the computers from this year will still be working in 2051?  I'm guessing not many...

I know some may not enjoy her Amiga art but I loved it. I taught art history (impressionism) for a few years while teaching computer science at a university so I loved her work. I thought the "rain piece" she did was really unique and effective. I think she did that in Amiga Basic but I could be wrong (I would have to watch it again).

You know how slow Amiga Basic is so I admire her dedication to her passion!

You just never know what unique Amiga story will pop up next do you?  :-)

-P

[Pentad]

Actually she complained of the mouse having issues (she needs a new mouse)
and of a yellowing monitor?

So, a local amigan should help her out or at least point her in the right direction?

Not to split hairs, but I did say computer, not accessories.  :-)

[Pentad]

Pentad, that's awesome.  I love that you taught both art and computer science.  Combining art and computer science is very underrated.  Look at the demoscene.

AmigaBill, you did a great job with your video. Have you thought about expanding the video into a a documentary? I also won the Sundance Film Festival with my first film and I think you could really turn this into a nice documentary and submit it to some film festivals.

There are a number of angles you could explore here. Samia is a very interesting subject that you could really build around:

Samia's background and move to America
Her life as an artist and her experimentation with art and technology (A2E)
The introduction of the Amiga
Technology evolution from A2E to Amiga
Language evolution from Logo to C for controlling graphics
The rise of the Demo Scene as you had mentioned as a new form of art
The rise of digital artists and their quest to be taken as serious artists (Rodney Chang)
Contrast her work with say Jim Sachs - One does her art in programming and the other uses tools to create art in his programs (Jim is amazing)
Reflect her life in the growth of CGI and Pixar


This is just a rough outline off the top of my head but you get the idea.

Great work!
-P