Lillian Schwartz

Lillian Schwartz

Birth : 1927-01-01,

History

Lillian Schwartz is a pioneer in the field of computer animation. In the early 1970s, she became the official artist in residence at AT&T Bell Laboratories, IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Laboratory and at Lucent Technologies Bell Labs Innovations where she would experiment with early computer graphics programs to create short works of film art. After studying traditional free-hand drawing while a nursing student at the University of Cincinnati, Schwartz became interested in incorporating technology into her artwork. Along with computer scientist Ken Knowlton, she helped create the image-generating programming language EXPLOR, with which she created many of her works in the mid to late '70s. In addition to her animation, Schwartz has also done research in the field of using computers to analyse the working methods of traditional artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Da Vinci by amassing large databases of their colour palettes and structures within their art. (from: http://www.undergroundfilmjournal.com/tag/lillian-schwartz/)

Profile

Lillian Schwartz

Movies

Raymond Roussel: The Day of Glory
Self
A tortuous journey, in the company of the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí, around the figure of the enigmatic and visionary French poet Raymond Roussel (1877-1933).
Pangloss
Director
Digital Animation | 02"50
Twirlinx
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
Tacit Expressions
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
AZTEC
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
Mood Changes
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
X-STRIA2
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
X-STRIA1
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
3-D Exotic
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
RGBCMY
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
Expressive Shapes
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
Lily's Sea
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
NUMÉROS
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
Exquisite Motions
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
Xtreme Sightings
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
The Beauty of Excess
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
EXALT
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
Before Before
Director
This animation can be watched in 2D or using Chromadepth Glasses in 3D.
Morphing of the Telephone
Editor
A number of telephones from the very first invention by Alexander Graham Bell to the present-day cellular and voice phones are morphed in an inventive choreographic video.
Morphing of the Telephone
Producer
A number of telephones from the very first invention by Alexander Graham Bell to the present-day cellular and voice phones are morphed in an inventive choreographic video.
Morphing of the Telephone
Director
A number of telephones from the very first invention by Alexander Graham Bell to the present-day cellular and voice phones are morphed in an inventive choreographic video.
Reflections
Director
A 4 minute film based on flowing changing images from liquid-like faces to flashing abstract imagery.
Beyond Picasso
Director
Schwartz reordered and combined angular contours, broken planes, and distorted proportions in her own pictorial structures in an homage to Picasso's style.
The Museum of Modern Art
Director
A short Emmy award-winning animation promoting New York's newly renovated Museum of Modern Art.
3 Degree K #02
Director
A dance by bodies of shifting colors.
Rituel
Director
Music performed by The New York Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Pierre Boulez. Schwartz manipulates by computer, in real-time the images of the Maestro to realize a unity between his music and the picture.
Poet of His People
Choreographer
Pablo Neruda’s life unfolds and becomes the basis for the symbolic representation of his poem “Barcarola”, intermixing live action, still footage, computer images, dance and poetry.
Poet of His People
Producer
Pablo Neruda’s life unfolds and becomes the basis for the symbolic representation of his poem “Barcarola”, intermixing live action, still footage, computer images, dance and poetry.
Poet of His People
Director
Pablo Neruda’s life unfolds and becomes the basis for the symbolic representation of his poem “Barcarola”, intermixing live action, still footage, computer images, dance and poetry.
Newtonian II
Director
This film is strongly rooted in its underlying mathematical structure which forms the basis for the images. The music by Jean Claude Risset is integral to the creation of this concert of space and time.
Newtonian I
Director
An illusion of 3 dimensions is achieved by a blending of mathematics and physics to carry the spectator through a new range of audio and visual dynamics.
Mime Control
Director
The artist uses the computer to accent and control a mime’s disciplined choreography. Studies in facial distortions with lens distortions. Channel 13, WNET.
Ensemble #2
Director
Music by Albert E. Miller. Combination of musicians and dancers in free form movements captured by computer-controlled-video which permits distortions and variations of the imagery. Continued experimentation with Rock Music and performers.
Ensemble #1
Director
Music by Albert E. Miller. Combination of musicians and dancers in free form movements captured by computer-controlled-video which permits distortions and variations of the imagery. Continued experimentation with Rock Music and performers.
Dancer 2
Director
The movements of a dancers body are recorded, studied, reshaped, to understand the anatomical ranges of joints. Music by Albert E. Miller.
Juggler
Director
Music by Albert E. Miller. Computer-controlled ability to store one frame in the computer and combine this frame with the incoming frames permits freeze frames of a juggler as well as synthesized images. The paths of a jugglers handling of balls through the air can be examined in slow motion. Shown at The Kitchen on Mercer Street.
Nino
Director
Music by Albert E. Miller. Experimental work with dancer and musicians to combine and present an unusual choreography of performers and music as a unified force.
Trois Visage
Director
Music by Frank Lewin. Study of the mood changes between three heads with slow moving subtle differences. Two heads are made of wood. The third head is of the artist L.S. UNESCO sponsored exhibition in Paris in 1978. Award in international competition – Japan, 1980 . Sponsored by Victor Co., JVC, Burston-Marstellar agency.
Bagatelles
Director
Abstract images of frame-by-frame animation with subtle growing effects of crystals are enhanced by polarized colors.
L'oiseau
Director
A single bird in flight is transformed, enhanced and interpreted so as to present a unique visual experience. From its original inception in a 128 frame black-and-white sequence it evolves by programmed reflection, inversion, magnification, color transformation and time distortion into the final restructured film as art.
Veil of Years
Director
Slow disintegration and aging of artists head, revealing underlying bone structure. Created using old picture-phone technology. New music added in 2013.
The Artist and the Computer
Researcher
Produced by Larry Keating for AT&T. “THE ARTIST AND THE COMPUTER is an excellent introductory informational film that dispels some of the “mystery” of computer-art technology, as it clarifies the necessary human input of integrity, artistic sensibilities, and aesthetics… Ms. Schwartz’s voice over narration explains what she hoped to accomplish in the excerpts from a number of her films and gives insight into the artist’s problems and decisions… I would recommend THE ARTIST AND THE COMPUTER for all grade levels, in classes on filmmaking, art appreciation, and human values.
The Artist and the Computer
Narrator (voice)
Produced by Larry Keating for AT&T. “THE ARTIST AND THE COMPUTER is an excellent introductory informational film that dispels some of the “mystery” of computer-art technology, as it clarifies the necessary human input of integrity, artistic sensibilities, and aesthetics… Ms. Schwartz’s voice over narration explains what she hoped to accomplish in the excerpts from a number of her films and gives insight into the artist’s problems and decisions… I would recommend THE ARTIST AND THE COMPUTER for all grade levels, in classes on filmmaking, art appreciation, and human values.
Experiments
Director
Music “Quartet in F” by Maurice Ravel, performed by Max Mathews. Subtly colored images combining microphotography and computer generated images with unique editing sequences that propel the viewer into a spiral-like endless vortex. Three music tracks were produced by the Groove System – a computer-controlled sound synthesizer.
On-Line
Director
Musicians and dancer perform in real-time while Schwartz plays a computer-keyboard to create special effects on a computer-controlled video-visual communication system.
Fantasies
Director
Computer generated images used as counterpoint to music “Fantasia & In Nomine” by John Ward, performed by Elizabeth Cohen, Max Mathews, and Gerard Schwarz.
La Spiritata
Director
Music “Canzoni per sonar a quattro” by Giovanni Gabrieli, performed by Elizabeth Cohen, Max Mathews, and Gerard Schwarz. Images generated by computer.
Pictures from a Gallery
Director
Picture-processed photos from the artist-filmmaker’s family. Faces are abstracted in a divisionistic manner.
Alae
Director
Beginning with footage of sea birds in flight, the film image is then optically scanned and transformed by the computer. The geometric overlay on live random motion has the effect of creating new depth, a third dimension. Our perception of the birds’ forms and movements is heightened by the abstract pattern outlining them.
Collage
Director
A swift moving assortment of moving images. Filmed from a color TV monitor that was computer controlled.
Kinesis
Director
Escher-like images stepping through the frames to the music of a jazz group. Delightful–shows a depth in the imagery not accomplished by computer before.
Metamorphosis
Animation
“Schwartz’ METAMORPHOSIS is a complex study of evolving lines, planes, and circles, all moving at different speeds, and resulting in subtle color changes. The only computer-generated work on the program, it transcends what many of us have come to expect of such film with its subtle variations and significant use of color.” – Catherine Egan
Metathesis
Director
Changing parameters on mathematical equations.
Mirage
Director
Filmed directly from color television controlled by computer programs. Beautifully flowing shapes that overlap and intertwine.
Mayan
Director
This tape combines live-images filmed in the Yucatan with output from the Paik video-synthesizer ribboned with computer-generated images.
Galaxies
Director
Computer-simulated disk galaxies that are superimposed and twirl through space in beautiful colors at different speeds.
Metamorphosis
Director
“Schwartz’ METAMORPHOSIS is a complex study of evolving lines, planes, and circles, all moving at different speeds, and resulting in subtle color changes. The only computer-generated work on the program, it transcends what many of us have come to expect of such film with its subtle variations and significant use of color.” – Catherine Egan
Papillons
Director
Mathematical functions are the basis for a science film on contour plots and an art film. Both are shown simultaneously at a two screen production for an IEEE conference in NYC. Beauty in Science & Art.
Innocence
Director
Computer generated music and visuals films directly from a color TV monitor.
Googolplex
Director
Extended editing techniques based on Land’s experiments affect the viewer’s sensory perceptions.
Apotheosis
Director
“Apotheosis, which is developed from images made in the radiation treatment of human cancer, is the most beautiful and the most subtly textured work in computer animation I have seen.” – Roger Greenspun, N. Y. Times Award Foothills-1973.
Mutations
Director
“The changing dots, ectoplasmic shapes and electronic music of L. Schwartz’s ‘Mutations’ which has been shot with the aid of computers and lasers, makes for an eye-catching view of the potentials of the new techniques.” – A. H. Weiler, N. Y. Times
Affinities
Director
A ballet of squares and octagons in many forms, exhibiting a variety of geometric and sometimes sensuous interactions.
Enigma
Director
“Lines and rectangles are the geometric shapes basic to ENIGMA, a computer graphics film full of subliminal and persistent image effects. In a staccato rhythm, the film builds to a climax by instantly replacing one set of shapes with another, each set either changing in composition and color or remaining for a moment to vibrate strobiscopically and then change.” – The Booklist.
Mathoms
Director
A playful concoction of computer produced images, a few hand-animated scenes and shots of lab equipment. Made largely from left-overs from scientific research.
Mis-Takes
Director
A colorful collage, with a subtle ecology theme, made largely from footage from trial runs of programs used for many of the other films.
Olympiad
Director
Study in motion based on Muybridge’s photographs of man running.
Some of My Best Friends Are...
Wardrobe Assistant
It's Christmas Eve 1971 in Manhattan's Greenwich Village and the regulars of the local gay bar "The Blue Jay" are celebrating. Not much has changed since Stonewall and its not all "Peace on Earth. Good Will to Men" but the times are a changin.
UFOs
Animation
Blasting off into cosmic visual abstraction, pioneering computer artist Lillian Schwartz’s UFOs is a kinetic tour-de-force whose innovative pixel pigmentation showcased advanced stereoscopic technology as art.
UFOs
Director
Blasting off into cosmic visual abstraction, pioneering computer artist Lillian Schwartz’s UFOs is a kinetic tour-de-force whose innovative pixel pigmentation showcased advanced stereoscopic technology as art.
Pixillation
Director
Pixillation features computer generated abstract animations set to Moog-synthesized sound.