Desmond Paul Henry

Desmond Paul Henry was a Manchester University Lecturer and Reader in Philosophy. He was one of the first British artists to experiment with machine-generated visual effects at the time of the emerging global computer art movement of the 1960s. During this period, Henry constructed a succession of three electro-mechanical drawing machines from modified bombsight analogue computers which were employed in World War II bombers to calculate the accurate release of bombs onto their targets. Henry's machine-generated effects resemble complex versions of the abstract, curvilinear graphics which accompany Microsoft's Windows Media Player. Henry's machine-generated effects may therefore also be said to represent early examples of computer graphics: "the making of line drawings with the aid of computers and drawing machines". Henry often subsequently added hand-embellishments to his machine-generated effects in response to their suggestive features.
During the 1970s Henry focused on developing his Cameraless Photography experiments. He went on to make a fourth drawing machine in 1984 and a fifth pendulum design one in 2002.