John Dunn (software developer)

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John Dunn
John Dunn (software developer).jpg
At exhibition Making Waves Art and Science in Chicago 1986
Born(1943-06-06)June 6, 1943
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedJune 27, 2018(2018-06-27) (aged 75)
Fort Worth, Texas
Education MFA in Generative Systems
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Music and art software developer
OrganizationAlgorithmic Arts
Website algoart.com

John Francis Dunn (June 6, 1943 - June 27, 2018) was an American music and art software developer. [1] He created several visual art, music, and design software programs, including Lumena, MusicBox, SoftStep, and others. He has also written and performed a variety of electronic music compositions throughout his career. He was a graduate of Sonia Landy Sheridan's Generative Systems program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also founded Time Arts, Inc. and Algorithmic Arts.

Contents

Education

Dunn attended the University of Florida. [2] In 1977, [3] he received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) after completing Sonia Landy Sheridan's Generative Systems program. While at the program, Dunn served as a graduate teaching assistant. He also helped Sheridan with work on an early computer graphic system [2] [4] and assembled the program's first image-making computer using algorithmic software he designed. [3] Also while at SAIC, he began working on a paint software program prototype that later would be expanded into SlideMaster, then EASEL and Lumena. [5] [6]

Career

After graduating, Dunn took a job at Atari where he worked as one of the company's first game developers. [7] [8] In 1978, he programmed the Atari 2600 Superman video game, a tie-in game to the 1978 film of the same name. [9] [10] Dunn designed the gameplay and graphics and wrote both the story and the game manual. In 2017, Guinness World Records identified it as the first superhero video game and the first video game/movie tie-in. Superman was also recognized as the longest-running video game character. [11] [12]

His work on Superman drew interest from Cromemco. In 1980, Dunn developed Cromemco's SlideMaster software which was considered the first professional paint program for a microcomputer. SlideMaster used the company's Super Dazzler graphics board. [2] [8] [10] Dunn also continued developing a graphics arts program of his own called "EASEL." The software was initially designed for S-100 PCs like the Cromemco, and was later ported to the IBM PC. [2] [13] In 1982, he founded Time Arts, Inc. in Glen Ellen, California to further develop the EASEL software. The software was eventually renamed "Lumena." [2] [7] Updated versions of the Lumena software continued to be made throughout the 1980s. It is considered one of the most important pieces of software in terms of improving graphics capabilities. Dunn left his position at Time Arts Inc. and moved to Hawaii in the late 1980s. [14] [15]

In 1986, Dunn created the electronic music software, MusicBox. He released it as "freeware" in the public domain. At the time, it was the only electronic music software of its kind to be available on PC platforms. [16] [17] In the 1990s, Dunn founded Algorithmic Arts, an online company that primarily produces electronic music software. [18] He released a variety of software programs in the 1990s and early 2000s, including the Kinetic Music Machine, SoftStep, BankStep, and ArtWonk, all of which incorporated details of visual art and design. [18] SoftStep was a Windows-based MIDI step sequencer and "algorithmic-composing program." [19] ArtWonk, another algorithmic composition program, implemented algorithmic visual art, the use of mathematical functions, and DNA and protein sequencing with contributions from expert users. [18] [20]

In 1997 he has collaborated to netOper@, the first Italian interactive work for the web, by the composer Sergio Maltagliati. [21] [22]

The Kinetic Music Machine, SoftStep, and BankStep were three of Dunn's programs that could make musical renderings of DNA. Dunn's wife, biologist Mary Anne Clark, helped in the creation of these programs. [23] Dunn and Clark used both DNA and amino acid protein sequences to produce renderings. [18] [24] [25] [26] They wrote an article on the subject of "sonifying" protein sequences ("Life Music: The Sonification of Proteins") that appeared in the February 1999 edition of the journal, Leonardo . [26] [27] The two later rendered music from the DNA of vampire bats, sea urchins, slime molds, and the human sex hormone. [25] [28]

Related Research Articles

Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and application of new and existing computer software technologies and basic aspects of music, such as sound synthesis, digital signal processing, sound design, sonic diffusion, acoustics, electrical engineering and psychoacoustics. The field of computer music can trace its roots back to the origins of electronic music, and the first experiments and innovations with electronic instruments at the turn of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic musical instrument</span> Musical instrument that uses electronic circuits to generate sound

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital art</span> Collective term for art that is generated digitally with a computer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demoscene</span> Computer art subculture

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Generative art</span> Art created by a set of rules, without human intervention.

Generative art refers to art that in whole or in part has been created with the use of an autonomous system. An autonomous system in this context is generally one that is non-human and can independently determine features of an artwork that would otherwise require decisions made directly by the artist. In some cases the human creator may claim that the generative system represents their own artistic idea, and in others that the system takes on the role of the creator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deluxe Paint</span> Raster graphics editor

Deluxe Paint, often referred to as DPaint, is a bitmap graphics editor created by Dan Silva for Electronic Arts and published for the then-new Amiga 1000 in November 1985. A series of updated versions followed, some of which were ported to other platforms. An MS-DOS release with support for the 256 color VGA standard became popular for creating pixel graphics in video games in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presentation program</span> Software package used to display information in the form of a slide show

In computing, a presentation program is a software package used to display information in the form of a slide show. It has three major functions:

Laurie Spiegel is an American composer. She has worked at Bell Laboratories, in computer graphics, and is known primarily for her electronic-music compositions and her algorithmic composition software Music Mouse. She also plays the guitar and lute.

<i>Superman 64</i> 1999 action-adventure video game

Superman: The New Superman Adventures, commonly referred to as Superman 64, is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Titus Interactive for the Nintendo 64 and based on the television series Superman: The Animated Series. Released in North America on May 31, 1999, and in Europe on July 23, 1999, it is the first 3D Superman game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EA Tiburon</span> Video game development studio by EA

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algorithmic art</span> Art genre

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">3D computer graphics</span> Graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data

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Cromemco was a Mountain View, California microcomputer company known for its high-end Z80-based S-100 bus computers and peripherals in the early days of the personal computer revolution.

<i>Superman</i> (1979 video game) 1979 video game

Superman is a video game programmed by John Dunn for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a Superman avatar whose quest is to explore an open-ended environment to find three pieces of a bridge that was destroyed by Lex Luthor, capture Luthor and his criminal gang and then return to the Daily Planet building. The game world is populated by hindrances, such as a helicopter which re-arranges the bridge pieces, and roving kryptonite satellites that cause Superman to revert into Clark Kent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer graphics</span> Graphics created using computers

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cromemco Dazzler</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonia Sheridan</span> American artist and researcher (1925–2021)

Sonia Landy Sheridan, known as Sonia Sheridan, was an American artist, academic and researcher, who in 1969 founded the Generative Systems research program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was honorary editor of Leonardo, the Journal of the International Society for the Arts Sciences and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST). Sheridan had received awards from numerous institutions, including the Guggenheim Foundation in 1973 for Photography and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Generative Systems was a program founded by Sonia Landy Sheridan at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1969 to help integrate art with new technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Singer (artist)</span> American artist

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References

  1. ↑ "John F. Dunn". burnettcountysentinel.com. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kirkpatrick, Diane (October 17, 1986). Making Waves: An Interactive Art/Science Exhibition.
  3. 1 2 Esangga, Bridget. "Appetite for Disruption". School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  4. ↑ Kennedy, Brian; Burke, Emily (October 30, 2009). Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art. Hood Museum of Art. ISBN   978-1584657873.
  5. ↑ Garner, Gretchen (July 30, 2003). Disappearing Witness: Change in Twentieth-Century American Photography. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   978-0801871672.
  6. ↑ "Sonia Sheridan fonds". Daniel Langlois Foundation. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  7. 1 2 "David's History with Computer Graphics & Desktop Publishing". First Image. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  8. 1 2 Ball, Randy (November 2000). "Super Ideas: An Interview with John Dunn". Mindspring. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  9. ↑ Wilson, William (March 25, 2016). "'Superman' Soars On Atari 2600". Forbes. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  10. 1 2 "John Dunn, créateur du premier jeu Superman". Geek-O-Matick. August 17, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  11. ↑ Daultrey, Stephen (May 17, 2017). "Release of Injustice 2 sees Superman take Longest-running character in videogames record". Guinness World Records. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  12. ↑ Guinness World Records 2018 Gamer's Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Gaming Records (11 ed.). Guinness World Records. August 29, 2017. ISBN   978-1910561744.
  13. ↑ Shea, Tom (December 19, 1983). "Personal Computer Graphics: Pushing Technology to the Limit". InfoWorld. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  14. ↑ Moran, Tom (August 25, 1986). "Low-Cost Graphics Wares Stand Out at Siggraph". InfoWorld. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Time Arts's Lumena Sets a Standard For Graphics Packages to Follow with its Extensive Array of Features". PC Magazine. October 1, 1985. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  16. ↑ Train Adams, Robert (January 1, 1992). Electronic Music Composition for Beginners. Brown & Benchmark. ISBN   9780697124920.
  17. ↑ "Electronic Musician, Volume 6, Issues 7-12". Electronic Musician. 1990. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Burt, Warren (2010). "Packages for ArtWonk: New Mathematical Tools for Composers" (PDF). University of Wollongong. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  19. ↑ Hamlin, Peter (December 1, 2001). "Algorithmic Arts SoftStep Pro 2.06A Review". Electronic Musician. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  20. ↑ Hamlin, Peter (September 1, 2004). "ALGORITHMIC ARTSARTWONK 1.2 (WIN)". Electronic Musician. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  21. ↑ netOper@ Accessed August 24, 2015
  22. ↑ Algorithmic Music & Images-John Dunn's links Accessed January 4, 2004
  23. ↑ Greenman, Catherine (13 September 2001). "Now, Follow the Bouncing Nucleotide". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  24. ↑ Greenman, Catherine (September 13, 2001). "Now, Follow the Bouncing Nucleotide". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  25. 1 2 Shachtman, Noah (May 21, 2002). "A Good Sequence, Easy to Dance To". Wired. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  26. 1 2 Wilson, Stephen (February 28, 2003). Information Arts: Intersections of Art, Science, and Technology. The MIT Press. ISBN   978-0262731584.
  27. ↑ Dunn, John; Clark, Mary Anne (February 1999). "Life Music: The Sonification of Proteins". Leonardo. 32 (1): 25–32. doi:10.1162/002409499552966. S2CID   57562936.
  28. ↑ "Musica genetica (Genetic Music)". Musica e Spirito (in Italian). 2011-04-24. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
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