Archive & distributor of Oskar Fischinger and other experimental animation, visual music. Mary Ellen Bute, Jordan Belson, Charles Dockum, Jules Engel films.
California, USA
Joined February 2011
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Center for Visual Music is pleased to announce the Whitney Museum NY, has acquired Oskar Fischinger: Raumlichtkunst (1926/2016), 3-projector reconstruction by CVM. An editioned work, 5 + 2 AP, exhibited at the Whitney, Tate Modern, ACMI, Palais de Tokyo Paris, others worldwide.
ALT 3 screens with large colorful abstract images.
Some pages from the film program at the new Lucas Museum in Los Angeles. CVM loaned films by Oskar Fischinger (left), Mary Ellen Bute and others. New DCPs!
.Oskar Fischinger, still from Komposition in Blau, 1935. This film will be on view looping daily at the new Lucas Museum, Los Angeles, opening September 22. Plus other films loaned by CVM.
ALT colorful circles and forms in a geometric display
If you haven’t seen this…CVM loaned films including Oskar Fischinger’s Composition in Blue.
Two theaters. Nonstop screenings. Endless discovery. Introducing the Lucas Museum's Inaugural Film Program.
Across two state-of-the-art theaters, visitors can drop in throughout the day to experience a continuously rotating selection spanning silent cinema, avant-garde experimentation, animation, documentary, and contemporary storytelling. Explore documentaries about the artists and creative traditions behind visual storytelling in the Robert Flaherty Theater, and experience "The Emotion of Motion" in the Slavko Vorkapich Theater, a celebration of innovative short films from its earliest pioneers to the present day.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens September 22. Memberships and tickets available now.
Mary Ellen Bute made a series of short “Seeing Sound” Visual Music films from the 1930s-50s. Here’s a title card from Color Rhapsodie (1948). Her early 1950s films such as Abstronic include oscilloscope imagery, youtu.be/SF-WRGQS5XY?
Center for Visual Music retweeted
The first female computer artist, Mary Ellen Bute.
Over the past year, since being discovered at @CtrVisualMusic, the pieces from this small group of oscilloscope works have now been shown at Art Basel and made their way into the hands of a couple of the best collections. Bute is slowly being recognized in her rightful place as the first female computer artist (with works ca. 1950-1952).
There are only ~20 prints and negatives in existence (as opposed to the hundreds Ben Lapoksy made), so the works are very precious.
Here are the 7 oscilloscope works + production materials from the film Abstronic that we hold in the collection.
Zero 10 at @ArtBasel
Center for Visual Music retweeted
Oscilloscope art is trending thanks to the incredible works at Art Basel by @_deafbeef and the 2 Mary Ellen Bute oscilloscope works (presented by @artmetaofficial) that sold out in the first few minutes of the fair.
Oscilloscope art is perhaps the earliest form of computer art (early 1950s).
There are 5 known artists that created these works in the 1950s.
- Mary Ellen Bute
- Hy Hirsh
- Ben Laposky
- Herbert Franke @Foundation_HWF
- Norman McLaren
Mary Ellen Bute at Basel
Digital Masterpieces: From Code to Canon
Debuting at @ArtBasel's Zero 10, Booth Z9 (June 16 - 20, 2026).
A comprehensive survey of the canonical history of digital art spanning 70+ years, tracing the rise of computation as medium through masterworks from the digital art canon.
Center for Visual Music retweeted
Act III of the Digital Art Summit by @artmetaofficial: Trust, Time, and Taste: Inside a Digital Art Collection
@eleonorabrizi from 100 collectors is in conversation with 100c collector members and friends: @RaniJabban from @arabbankCH, Michael Bogan from @ragnar_art, @GMSPACE_, and @thefunnyguysNFT from @lerandomart and @raster_art
« Beyond transactions, collecting is about trust. Trust in artists, trust in your own taste, and trust in the journey of building a collection over time. »
Center for Visual Music retweeted
If you going to Art Basel and are interested in digital art - this June 15th Digital Art Summit looks really good. Speakers include Christian Paul (Whitney), Margit Rosen (ZKM), Trevor Paglen (Co-curator of Art Basel 01) and many others.
zurl.co/qRqAD
Our popular virtual seminar returns, “Jordan Belson, Vortex Concerts and the Origins of Expanded Cinema.” Begins June 11, limited enrollment. Stills from Seance. Belson integrated some of the patterns he projected there into several of his films. centerforvisualmusic.org/Bel…
Center for Visual Music retweeted
Digital Masterpieces: From Code to Canon
Debuting this summer at @ArtBasel's Zero 10.
Complimented by an extensive essay and online catalog, the hybrid exhibition will survey 70+ years of digital art from pioneers like Charles Csuri, Herbert W. Franke, Rebecca Allen, + more.
Center for Visual Music retweeted
Our popular virtual seminar returns, “Jordan Belson, Vortex Concerts and the Origins of Expanded Cinema.” Begins June 11, limited enrollment. centerforvisualmusic.org/Bel…
Flashback: CVM loaned Mary Ellen Bute’s film Abstronic to Centre Pompidou, Paris for the Women in Abstraction exhibition. Abstronic is one of her Visual Music films with oscilloscope imagery. We also loaned two archival photographs. Photo by yann beauvais. #maryellenbute
ALT a film screens in a grey space in a museum
