During which period did most computer art center around computer programming?

During 1960s-1970s

Explanation:

By the mid-1960s, most artists involved in computer art were actually computer engineers and scientists, as few other than them had access to as many computer resources as those in universities and laboratories. Timidly, many artists began to explore emerging computer technology as a creative tool. In the summer of 1962, Dr. A. Michael Noll programmed a laboratory computer in New Jersey to generate visual patterns solely for artistic purposes. His works became famous at the hands of artists Piet Mondrian and Bridget Riley, later becoming classics of computer art. Noll also used these patterns to investigate the aesthetic preferences of that decade.

But the idea of computer art already existed in the early 1960s with the invention of a painting machine by Desmond Henry. His work was exhibited at the Reid Gallery in 1932 in London, when his machine became well known. In 1963, Joan Shogren created a computer program based on artistic principles. The first two official computer art exhibitions took place in 1965, one at the Generative Computergrafik in Germany with works by Georg Nees, and the Howard Wise Gallery in the United States with works by Bela Julesz and A. Michael Noll. The titles of the exhibitions did not use the word "art", since at that time the images that were created were not considered as art.

In 1968, the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London hosted one of the most influential computer art exhibitions in history. The exhibition featured some of those who today are considered the first digital artists, such as Nam June Paik, Frieder Nake, Leslie Mezei, Georg Nees and A. Michael Noll. Under the direct influence of this event, the following year the Computer Arts Society was founded in London. These events have created the tracks upon which this artistic branch has developed. In the 1970s, the Xerox Corporation Research Center in Palo Alto, United States, created the first Graphical User Interface (GUI), a simpler authoring platform. But only in 1984 became a commercial product, thanks to Macintosh. With increasing popularity, digital designers quickly started using this new creative tool.