Exiting the Comfort Zone: From Algorithm to Interaction in the Early Work of Simon Biggs

The 1970s and early 1980s saw the emergence of the microcomputer and the domain of personal computing. Within that context, some artists were working with such digital systems, contributing to these developments in various ways. This article reflects upon one such artist’s involvement in these developments and how his initial interest in computational processes allowed him to explore a series of formal concerns, and how this then evolved into an engagement with more conceptual and philosophical concerns around the ontology of people and technology. The article also considers the value of undertaking creative work in interdisciplinary research environments.