The Chrome Age: Dawn of Virtual Reality
Author(s): Sonya Shannon
Source: Leonardo, Vol. 28, No. 5, Third Annual New York Digital Salon (1995), pp. 369-380
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1576220
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The

ChromeAgeDawn of Virtual Reality
Sonya Shannon

THIS

ARTICLEof computer graphics-chrome

CHAMPIONS
logos-byTHE

SINGLEMOSTDESPISEDARTIFACTreconsidering them as conspicuous ambassadors of computer-generated realism.

The foundation for today's synthetic worlds was laid when three-dimensional computer animation first moved into televisionand film, an era the author labels the "Chrome Age." Programmers, in a quest for photographic-quality realism, built theframework for virtual reality-but without artistic training. They overlooked certain aesthetic principles of Renaissance
perspective in order to focus on algorithmic techniques, an endeavor that resulted in distinctive plastic-metal textures.
Designers, eager to express whatever they could with the new computer-generated look, manipulated the earliest
entertainment graphics-show

titles and logos-into

illusions of precious silver and gold. Due to their symbolic value,chrome logos convinced the public that artificial worlds could eventually become "real" and heralded the high-techentertainment industry-an edifice of science fused with art.

Wheneveryone
dislikessomethingit shouldbe examined.
Wheneveryone
likes somethingit shouldbe examined.
-Confucius[1]

hrome: The Byproduct of Collaborative
Chaos
The inevitable computerization of imagery over the
20-oddpast
years has confounded many an artist. While chaos
is symptomatic of postmodern events in general, the frictionsof computer art arise primarily from the diametric temperaments of its collaborators-artists, who seek personal andsocial truth through human experience, and scientists, who
pursue objective verity in the outside world [2]. Evidence ofthe contrapuntal partnership abounds. The infinite perfectcopies of digital art are closer in character to the scientist's
reiterative verification process than the artist's singular expressive event, while fractal images and other wildly colored products of scientific visualization compel association with sacredmandalas, intricate decorative patterns, and abstract art. The
collision of apparently conflicting goals has strewn new formsof imagery throughout our culture, especially in the entertainment and communications industries. In order to grasp even aC1995 ISAST

fragment of the new aesthetic, we might be advised to examine not an elusive form of high art but rather a dominant
shape from the guts of mass media, where the byproducts ofart and science inevitably merge. Although certain innovations
have been celebrated-notably 3D perspective, the fractal, themorph, and the pseudo-color scheme-one of the most influential byproducts of early computer art has been, quite erroneously, shunned. I refer to the long-misunderstood flying
chrome logo-the typography that is likely to package theevening newscast by swerving over some variant of a grid
while stars or similar creations zoom in the deep space background (Fig. 1). I use the term "chrome" to encompass all
simulations of gold, silver, chromed nickel, copper, and othershiny materials (even glass and metallicized plastic), since
together they form a coherent style of gleaming glamour [3].
Indeed, the 3D chrome logo emerges from communications
media as no less than the symbolic bounty delivered by science to art, the inauguralicon of virtual reality and an ignored
but persistent cornerstone of contemporary design. In light ofthe chrome logo's ubiquity and significance, I propose we
SonyaShannon,M.F.A.ComputerArt Department,School of VisualArts,
209 East 23rd Street, New York, NY loolo, U.S.A.
Email: shannon@sva.edu.
Received
May 1, 199l

LEONARDO,

Vol.28,

No. 5, pp. 369-380,

1995

369

chrome logos first proved to a massaudience that the virtual world was notjust science fiction, but a fact.
Too Marginal
Flying Logos:
forfor Art, Too Fanciful
Science
To an outsider, computer art mightlook like a movement of some kind.
Certainly, it draws together a body ofpeople whose endeavors radiate esotericpassion while skirting the fringe ofacceptable cultural practice. Contrary to
wishful thinking, however, it is hardly an
art movement, since graphics systems
were initiated by everyone exceptartists
Fig. 1. Beveled, extruded chrome lettering attempts to fill the void of virtual space with symbolicand designers. Science, technology, andreferences to wealth, space travel, and high technology. The result is a mirage of the ever-futuristic
FeatureMulti
Cinema1990.)
courtesy
Presentation;
Studios,(AMC)
big business-not art-were at the epipresent. (American
Metrolightcenter of the high-tech revolution.
name the period of its inception the simplest cube glinted and gleamed as it Computer programmers-neither con"Chrome Age."
tumbled. Such precisely calculated,
ceptual artists nor aesthetes-erected andtraditionalart
shadedwould
beunthinkably furnished virtual reality out of their need
Although ignored bygeometry
to master problems of such complexity
historians [4] and contemptible to "seri- labor-intensive to produce by hand.
ous" designers alike, flying logos-nickBecause it constituted a quantum leap that nothing less than computer-assisted
named for their flying-saucer-likein realism, 3D animation caused an simulationswould do the trick [7].
A telltale sign of a new era is a shift
behavior-are surprisingly influential, industrywide sensation. The block-letinsocialstrata whereby a despised vocainanbecameatheirera
infamousfor
teredchromewordsuddenly
given
origin
tion
in
is
metal
the
minds
of
its
obsolescence.
Their
bar
of
suddenly assumes high status while ahistory
rapid
precious
short but profound. The first metallic patrons, ushering in a new phase in the respected profession sinks into oblivion.
titles emerged during the late sixties and history of image-making. By the early Consider, in twentieth century America,
early seventies, when airbrushing and eighties, virtual metal typography domi- how acting skyrocketed from gypsylike
back-lighting techniques were incorpo- nated television identifications and com- marginalizationto glamorous movie starrated into the traditional 2D animation mercials.When faster, cheaper computers dom, while teaching plummeted from aand better software products superseded revered calling to a scorned excuse-forprocess [5]. Simultaneously, thoughofbroadcastindependent
production, the monolithic startup industry in 1987, an-occupation ("he who can, does; hethe earliest computer graphics techhigh-tech effects became the cynosure of who can't, teaches"). During the Chrome
showedniquespromising development the entertainment industry. Today, slick Age, the major upset in the professional
for animation. When software alchemy 3D titles proliferate everywhere. Though hierarchy was that the technologistof the late seventies produced convinc- they have gone largely unacknowledged, soared from nerd to wizard, while theing illusions of precious metal, a few
visionary entrepreneurs rushed to hawk Fig. 2. (a) The 3D techniquefor generatingchromelogos startswith a geometricaldescriptionof thevirtual gold in the profitable entertain- object, shown here in wireframe.(b) The relationshipbetweendiffuse surfaceand specularhighlightment industry. Success came quickly. colors createsa flat and crude-lookingchrome.(c) Geometryis partitionedand assignedcontrasting
When computer animation made its diffuse colors to show off its volume betterthan light algorithmsalone can do. (d) Raytracing
debut on television around 1977, it providesrealisticreflections,thoughthe geometrystill readsratherflat. (e) Partitioningcombined
caused a noticeable ripple in graphics with adjustedraytracingprovidesthe highestrealism.(Illustrationscourtesyof Jens Scott ? 1995.)
production. While zD animation techniques could be mimicked-albeit awkwardly-on one of the rare electronic
painting systems then in existence [6],3D modeling methods produced superior
metal, due to the fact that objects
cavorting through space could be automatically animated (Fig. 2). Computed
perspective was indeed a stupendous
breakthrough for animation-even the370

SonyaShannon,The Chrome Ageartist fell from hero to scapegoat [8].
Let there be no doubt about it: during
the late seventies and eighties, software
engineers were knighted the new "creatives"-an emergingelite of special-effectmasters. Quite simply, their algorithms
dictated what it was and was not possible
to visualize. Before personal computersproliferated,an artist's access to graphics
systems was difficult at best. Practicallythe only way to experiment-unless you
chanced to befriend some kindly hackers-was
to seek employment at a
Chrome Age production company. Here,art (generally, the pictures or algorithms
one made during one's spare time) was
the legal property of the corporation andcould be used for its promotion withouteven the inclusion of the creator's name,let alone acknowledgment of her rights.
Until recently, those who made art with
their employer'scomputers sacrificedindividual ownership of expression, whether
commercialor not-in theory for the sakeof technological progress, and in fact forthe corporation'sprofits. Needless to say,few artistscould toleratesuch terms.
While an optimistic sprinkling ofartists and designers tried to embraceelectronic picture-making, many more
raged against having their tools andmethods revolutionized. But technology
advanced ruthlessly, forcing designers en
masseinto computerization. Though traditional artists and critics abhorred algorithmic representations, their objections
were flung to the distant sidelines of theimaging revolution. Now, in the midnineties, an awakened finger of the art
world has finally begun to probe thespaces opened over the past few decades
by technologists, namely, the universe ofvirtual galaxies and its intricate conduit,
the World Wide Web. Ultimately, computer art embodies not a movement but
the twitch of a limb as we metamor-

phose into an entirelydigital culture [9].
The first negotiations between thelong-estranged tribes of Science and Art
were conducted on a makeshift raft of
television and feature film production.
Entrepreneurs summoned financial andmanagementexecutives, salespeople,computer scientists and programmers, secretaries, and a token designer or illustrator
to produce visuals with algorithms freshfrom the motherboard.For the financier,the obvious quandary was how to conceive a species of algorithmicskin whose
appearancealone could justify the exorbitant cost of producing it. Underneath,thepuzzle was how to define a common iconaround which adversarial scientists andartists could sophisticate high technology.
The chrome logo was an answer to both
enigmas. For the programmer,the metal
signature was a victory in the quest forphotographic-quality realism. For thedesigner, it was a relatively meaningfulexpression put forth with tools whose traditions were yet to be defined.
For lack of a more fitting role model,
the entertainment branch of computer
graphicsgrew at first like a newly separated
Siamese twin of the American military,
whose flight- and combat-simulationsystems pioneered virtual space and funded
the development of algorithms used by
the offshoot industries.Though over time
the business of high-tech television andfilm graphicsgracefullydifferentiateditself
in many ways from the U.S. Air Force,
during the Chrome Age most companies
retained a militaristic hierarchy of command, practicing secrecy and surveillancetactics to protect their proprietarycode.
Under these regimented conditions, thefirst computer-generated logos werelaunched into virtualorbit.
As a nerdy militia amassed for thehigh-tech crusade, the few brave rookie
designers who enlisted directly in the

Chrome Age were stripped of the power
previously granted them for having skillful hands and fertile imaginations. Like
immigrantsforced to assume a new identity in a land where their native tongue isscorned, the artistically inclined were
demoted to the lowliest status possible.
They became mere users, or-as salespeople and executives referredto them(slaves) of the mighty machines.
operators
Perhaps it was meant to put them on apar with operators of other equipment,such as fork-lifts, sewing machines, andtelephones-or
figuratively with theofunderworld schemes,
shady operatorssince the designer's main fare, after manual skills, has always been provocation[lo]. Yet no one cares how philosophicallya steam shovel operator moves earth orwith what dancerlyflourish a switchboard
operator reconnects lines. Similarly,computer graphic operators were expected toconfine themselves to being mere technicians who met deadlines with maximum
expediency and minimum creativity,.And
venturesome though they were, because
these artists were not trained to programcode or configure hardwaresystems, they
were easily trampled by software "artists"
who wanted not only to be in charge but
to develop Lnd wield the newfound creative power corl:putation afforded them[11]. Artistic design, temporarily boundand gagged by algorithmic logic, becamea hostaged profession struggling for its
rights after they were seized in a technocultural coup d'etat.

Plastic
Lands: The Crusade
for Realism
Computer animation barged into theentertainmentbusiness on the strength of
a boast, in the short run, to surpass tabletop still life photography and miniaturemodel animation.This claim was foundedon computer animation'ssuperior realism

SoJblaShannon, The Chrome Age371coupled with unprecedented flexibility,
such as optional gravity, instant changes
in color and surface texture, and the ability to metamorphose object shapes. In
the long run, synthetic
effects
promised-and threatened-to replace
human movie stars altogether, just as
programmers had replaced artists as themain innovators of picture-making.Years
before the words "virtual"and "reality"
were joined, realism was the force thatdrove the technographic typhoon.
Technique, witnessed in the algorithmic
image, reigned supreme. Money andeffort were invested exclusively to
improve software tools and hardware
performance. While programmers werepraised and coddled, graphic artists-formerly the "sensitive"ones-were kept ona strict production agenda whose only
aesthetic was glitzy pseudo-realism.
The television-viewing public, apparently either ignorant of or indifferent topublic) for being so tasteless as to wantshiny metals in the first place.

SonyaShannon,The Chrome Age(ca. 1486; above right) exemplifies theprinciples of Renaissance perspective throughTwo Perspectives:
The
Versus theRenaissance
Chrome Age
To understand why chrome prevails,
we must consider the programmers,who
were now in charge of design. The schism
between traditional artists and software
designerswidened during the debate overthe virtues and vices of computer animation. Undaunted by their ignorance of art
history, or possibly feeling that incomprehensible art movements from Abstract
Expressionism to Postmodernism gave
everyone license to call themselves artists,
programmers defiantly ventured deeper
into logic to create their own form ofart-namely, graphicsprograms.
Confusion persists over the merits ofalgorithmicrendering.Because image processing in the nineties-especially phoconverged withgraphics production methods, accepted tomanipulation-has
the first computer animation without synthetic 3D graphics,we must reconsider
changing channels. The majority of the the aesthetics of contemporaryrealism inentertainment world was less than light of its digitalbenefactor,the computer
thrilled about 3D, however, since tradi- program. It is beyond the scope of thistional graphics producers lost vital busi- articleto discuss photography-relatedtechness to Chrome Age companies.
niques, so we will focus on computed perPrejudice quickly arose against flying spective as a source of realism. It islogos, since, in the quest for realism, worthwhile here to consider the premises
synthetic graphics were marketed as of Renaissance aesthetics as a parallel tobeing indistinguishable from real scenes digital 3D. In terms of image-makinghisand objects. Phrases such as "hyperreal- tory, the ItalianRenaissancerepresentsthe
istic," "true-to-life," and "the future is apex of constructed pictorial realism.
now" clamored wherever high-tech
Perspective theory, a central idea in fifcomseen.
theteenth century painting, is reincarnatedin
wasUnsettledbyimageryofhard-learned
the very girders upon which virtual realiputer's easy usurpation
craft and desperate to regain lost income, ties rest. While 3D software was nevertraditionalists began a backlash that intended to uphold painterly ideals, it
assailed the aesthetics of computer-gen- shares with the Renaissance an aim
erated goods. Skeptics denounced virtual towards superior realism through a delispace as too pristine, plastic, cold, garish, cate balance of geometry and art. Yet
hard-edged, and false. They condemned many perspective details of thethe robotic movement of logos that Renaissancehave never been implemented
jerked to a halt or changed direction in 3D software,so virtualspace has lacked
mid-air with unmotivated abruptness. some important depth cues. Ironically,
The artistic ability of "whoever was these omissions enhanced the corporeality
responsible" for chrome logos was thor- of chrome logos while falsifyingthe depicoughly censured-and of course, each tion of more organic subjects.
Both Renaissance picture-makingand
party blamed the other. Programmers
criticized users for their technological
3D computer graphics systems wereon Euclidean geometry and
while
users
both
foundedreproachedignorance,for
suchlimitedprovidingattempted to portray space with unsurprogrammers,
tomentionandclientsthe(notoptions,
passed accuracy. In the Renaissance, the372

Fig. 3. Leonardo DaVinci's lairgin of the Rockforeground, middleground, and backgroundplanes detailed at right. Note the increasingly
compressed range of color values expressive ofdistance from the eye.

observer's eye, was conceived of as the
apex of a visual cone or pyramid that
enclosed a rational,mathematical,homogenous world. The image plane was a surface
that cut through visual rays emanatingfrom the eye to objects within view. Sucha rendering was constructed by mapping
distances between objects and then overpainted in color. Computer graphics
employed a similar strategy. Instead ofusing hand and eye, the data for virtual
objects were constructedalgorithmicallygenerally through a points-polygons
method, or through volume or surface
equations-and stored in the computer.
Geometrywas placed inside a virtualviewing pyramidand renderedin a "window"
by calculationsof such attributesas object
color, shading,and spatialorientation[12].
Renaissance perspective expressed aunifying light source through four major
principles:linear perspective, atmosphericperspective [13], color perspective, andseparationof planes. In contrast, 3D software accommodated (and still does
accommodate, in most cases) only linear
perspective-the one precept most familiar to lay people. This technique increasingly compresses the size of distantobjects until the illusory space drains intoa pinpoint on the horizon. The viewing
pyramid determines the geometry's distance from the image plane and its relative
inflation or shrinkage of scale. Since thelinear principle is a brilliant yet simply
grasped device for generating spatial illusions, most programmersdisregardedtheother more complicatedperspectives[14].
Fig. 4. Atmospheric and color perspectives
are not considered in this digital renderingof sunflowers (below right). Note how thehomogenous range of colors contradicts thelinear recession of objects from the eye. The
slight loss of detail in the distance is a functionof pixel size and anti-aliasing relative to thesunflowers' size, rather than the outcome ofalgorithmically controlled perspective texturing.

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Fig. 5. (a) The
contemporary solution
to perspective uses aviewing pyramid, visualized here with the camera at the apex and theview window as a 2D
slice of space between
the camera and thegeometry. The arrows
indicate the location ofa point light source.
(b) In the final rendering, two different fog
filters create mood andimprove the depictionof space. The first is alayer of blue fog nestlednear the ground, while
the second is a sphere
whose green fog intensifies with distance fromthe origin. (Illustration

courtesyof Jens Scott01995.)

soft,
Atmospheric perspective-thenaturalisticlighting effects that rendered ahazy and, in Leonardo da Vinci's words,"not highly finished" [15] qualityto painted objects in the distance-expressed theessential Renaissance idea that the atmosphere was invisible yet volumetric.
Atmospheric perspective also accounted
for a loss of light-darkvalue contrast in
the distance. Fifteenth century paintersrendered this illusion by deteriorating a
sharply textured, richly contrasted surface
into a generalized blur of medium-value
color at a distance (Fig. 3). On the other
hand, even the best Chrome Age software
renderedall objects at maximum allowabledetail, regardless of their position in
space-as though in a vacuum. Valuecontrast as a function of atmosphere wascompletely absent from commercial 3D
systems. Highly textured objects had an
unconvincing clarity about them (Fig. 4)
and "boiled" or squirmed distractingly
across surfaceswhen animated (this is still
a problem with even the best 3D packages). An algorithmcalled a fogfilter,however, bleached distant objects from thebottom up. Though it was not altogether

374

Sonya Shannon, The Chrome Age

objectionable,this foggy weather condition
was applied irrespective of setting, scale,or relativedistance.Although fog failed tosolve the more subtle problems of diminished detail and decreased value contrast
seen on a clear day or in a large interior,
the algorithm created better realism thanno filterat all (Fig. 5).
Perhaps the most subtle detail missing
from Chrome Age space was color perspective. Renaissance theory assigned
warm, saturated,and opaque colors (redsand yellows) to the foreground and cool,grayed-down, transparent colors (blues,
greens, and purples) to the background.
Light colors were mixed with red anddark colors shifted towards blue as they
receded in the painting. Though inhibiting to later artists, fifteenth century color
perspective achieved a naturalrealism andstill seems advanced compared to theabsence of color perspective in 3D software today. The most brilliant Chrome
Age (and mid-nineties) hues, no matter
how far away from the virtual camera,remained at maximum purity. Yet theillusion of virtual depth could have beenheightened if surface hues were adjusted

algorithmically to their individual distances in space. (Of course, users could
make these adjustments painstakinglyby
hand, but only if they had enough artistic
trainingto begin with.)
Finally, a separationof planes resulted
from the convergence of the three other
Renaissanceprinciples.Linear,atmospheric, and color perspectives were combinedin a series of distinct yet connected planes
that overlapped one another in increments from far to near, somewhat theway theatricalflats imply zones of depth.
Since Chrome Age software did not
address atmospheric and color perspectives, it did not separate planes unless aflat background was set behind 3D
objects. The only indication of increased
space between camera and figure camethrough miniaturization,the overlappingof distant objects, and the intervention offog if a filter was employed. Unless theycame from the hands of a trained artist
who spent days refining appearances,either of which was highly unlikely,
Chrome Age 3D images were shallow,
sterile, and cold-qualities unsuitable fororganic objects but ideal for showing off
beveled metal logos (Fig. 6).

3D Purists:
Solutions

Computational

The virtual world had to prove itself.
Mainly, this meant paying for the costof its development by furthering its
most singular properties. Programmers
generally scorned "brute force" imagemaking methods that emphasized user
skill-such as cinematic-style compositing or individualized adjustment ofobject properties-overalgorithmicmeans. The consensus was to create an
entirely computed, "pure 3D" universe.
It is important to remember here that
3D software was never intended tomake static images to hang on a wall but
instead was developed to computerize theanimation of objects in space. Computed
perspective was applied automatically to
any piece of geometry, regardless of its
complexity. The operator needed only to
Fig. 6. The dominant attributes of perspectivein the Renaissance, contrasted with those of

the Chrome Age, followed by more recent
developments (right).

LINEARPERSPECTIVE

THE RENAISSANCETHE CHROME(c. {1300} 1495 - 1520)(c. 1975 - 1987)REALITYVIRTUAL(c. 1988 - present)

Drafted.

Computed.
in a virtual
Geometryscaledalgebraicallyofviewingpyramid.Complexity
geometryrenderedregardlessof distancefrom the virtualcamera.

Computed.
in a virtual
Geometryscaledalgebraicallyviewingpyramid.Variablegeometricresolutionas a functionof distancefrom
the virtualcamera.

Algorithmicallycomputedwith a fog
filter,or nonalgorithmicallycompositedusing two-dimensionalbackgrounds
behind three-dimensionalgeometricrenderings.

Algorithmicallycomputedwith one ormore of the following:fog filter,density
map, hierarchicalradiosity,physically
based atmosphericscattering,raytracing& radiosity,etc. Also non-algorithmically

Geometryforeshortenedby constructionof a viewingpyramid.Distant objects
renderedwith less detailthan near
objects.

ATMOSPHERICPERSPECTIVE

Painted.

AGE

composited.

COLOR
PERSPECTIVE

i llf1jr4LO

tattr~ill

Sharptextures.
High detail.

No texture.
Blurrededges.

Sharptexturesdue to raytracing.No
algorithmicdistinctionwithin viewing
pyramidbetween foregroundandbackgroundspace.

Sharptextures.
High detail.

Decreased
texture.
Blurrededges.
Simulateddepthof field.

Expandedvalue
range.

Compressedvalue
range.

Littlealgorithmicdistinctionbetween
foregroundand backgroundspace,althoughbackgroundvalue rangemay bemoderatelycompressedwith fog filter.

Expandedvalue
range.

Compressedvalue range.

Strongvolumetricrenderingthroughlight and shade.

Flatnessrenderedthroughdiffusedlight and shade.

Little algorithmicdistinctionbetween
Strongvolumetricforegroundand backgroundspace. Strong renderingthroughvolumetricrenderingthroughout,light and shading.
may
appearobjectsalthoughbackgroundincidentallyless volumetric,due tocompressedvalue rangeof fog filter.

Determinedby palette,then painted.

*

*6

0

Flatnessrenderedthroughmultiple
algorithms.

Not addressedin software.

Addressedthrougharbitraryuse ofdensitymaps, but unformulatedby
aesthetictheory.

addressedthroughNonalgorithmicallythe backgroundis
where
compositing,visuallyseparatefrom 3D geometry.

Hierarchyof algorithmsapplied
accordingto distancefrom the virtual
camera.Multiplelevels of detail.Also
addressedthroughnonalgorithmically

0

0

-

SEPARATIONOF PLANES

Warmcolors.

Cool colors.

Bright,saturated
colors.

Muted,neutralizedcolors.Lightcolors
shiftedtowardsred.
Darkcolorsshifted
towardsblue.

Opaque,solid
colors.

Transparent
colors.

Wide rangeof

Unifiedtemperature
contrasts.

temperature.

Resultof linear,atmosphere,and color
perspectivestogether.

compositing.

Sonya Shannon, The Chrome Age375

construct the object and position it in the highlights. Executives and clients thrilled followed the release of software alreadyvirtual theater [16]; the computer then at the semblance of precious metals, and written, tested, and ready to drive from
Wavefront,Alias, Symbolics,and othersslavishly rendered the precise perspective furtherresearchwas funded.
transformationsundergone as the object
Software writers strove to expand the complete with relativelyfriendlygraphical
moved. Eighteen hundred video images definition of virtuallighting and began to user interfaces. The industry could nowere needed for each minute of animation, seek more physically based solutions.
longer sustain a cumbersome,back-to-theat a rate of 30 per second. Accordingly, Inadvertently, their efforts promoted
drawing-boardapproach to algorithmsfor
becametheconchief
chrome, silver, gold, and glass beyond daily production. Abruptly,every Chrome
computation timesideration of software design. If Chrome anyone's expectations.As early as the late Age computergraphicscompany save one
was went bankrupt[17].
Age businesses were to survive, every seventies, a procedurecalled raytracing
effort had to be made to improve the sys- designed to increase realism. Without ray
Refugee programmersfled to Europe
tem's performance. Perspective enhance- tracing, early 3D objects could be given and Japan, helping to launch entertainments beyond the linear principle were color, a little texture,and even transparency ment graphics there, while others
consideredvisual frills,too slow and com- through coloring vertices in the object's regrouped to create the facilities in busiplicated to compute relative to whatever polygon skin. Though they received light ness today. The industry widened tosmall improvements might be observed. and shading, virtual objects cast shadows include video postproduction houses,
After all, most 3D animationwas destined neither on their "ground"nor upon one which began animating their own flying
for television or video, formats already another-nor could they reflect each oth- logos. Realism continued to improve as
notorious for spatial flatness and the ers' colors. Ray tracingproduced geomet- computergraphicsprogrammersgravitatedricallyaccuratereflectionsand shadows on increasingly to physically based illuminainabilityto supply artist-qualityresolution.
Of chief concern to programmers, surfaces, giving birth to a superior order tion algorithms. The most significant
besides geometric modeling tools, were of virtual metal and glass. Even though innovation, radiosiy,finally simulated thesoftware procedures for lighting and sur- ray-traced images produced inordinate soft propagationof light around surfaces,
face shading. Strings of numbers defined detail in a sterilized,vacuous space, it was though it has yet to be implemented costthe location, direction,intensity,range,and a depiction many people wanted. Ray trac- effectively in most commercial applicahue of hypotheticallight sources (lamps or ing deserves credit as the single most tions. In 1988, the parody animationa sun). The original secret behind the important algorithmto propagate chrome Fyiing Logos, Inc. by Conn, Homer andchrome look was that the highlight or logos, which in turn secured 3D anima- Associates presented itself as a sardonic
shiny spot on an object could be colored tion's strongholdin entertainment.
eulogy for the Chrome Age, ridiculingthe
from
the
of
the
Of
one
limitationrest
course,object,posed by any reign of extruded type in the hope (howindependently
though both received illumination from new algorithm of the Chrome Age was ever futile) of buryingit once and for all.
the same algorithm.Programmers,not in how to implement it in the face of the At the same time as prepackagedsoftware
the habit of mixing colors, naively used endemic secrecyand informationwithhold- and cheaper, faster computers brought
primary colors: red, green, blue, cyan, ing. Corporationspressured programmers the Chrome Age to an end, the desktop
magenta,yellow, black, and white. Light is to emulate their rivals' spectacular algo- publishing frenzy began. Suddenly everyrarelyif ever pure white, however-a fact rithms,but with varyingdegreesof success. one wanted to "Be a Graphic Designer
most artistsand color scientistsknow well. Even if the essential formula for an algo- (or Look Like One)." Artist's tools
Programmers nevertheless conceived of rithm-such as ray tracing-was published became widely available and easy to use
color intellectuallyratherthan perceptually, at SIGGRAPH, the quirks of proprietary on personal computers, putting a newand lights were invariably set at loo% softwarehad to be takeninto account,and emphasis on creativity. In the squabble
white. Since plastics characteristicallyhave renderingspeed was alwaysthe chief con- over visual imagery, the artist-at longwhite highlights, virtual objects generally sideration.Not until the Chrome Age was last-could have a chance of competing
looked plastic. Metals, on the other hand, over did most productioncompanies offer with the programmer.
have highlightsof the same hue as the dif- functionalcode to outsiders,let alone have
A Cornerstone
fuse or body color. In fact, polished met- it for themselves.
of LateThe Chrome Age ended around 1987 Twentieth
als are so specularthey are largelycolored
Century Design
Given the stupendous progress ofby highlights and have little diffuse color. with the major transformationof the 3D
In computer graphics, a highlight the animation business in the mid-eighties, computer animation to date, one is comsame hue as the object's diffuse color gave which coincided with a sharp economic pelled to ask why the flashy chrome logoa reasonable illusion of brushed metal. recessionand changesin the tax laws. Two still preponderates in our media. Almost
Thus, a gold object with a white highlight or three companies came out with expedi- everyone considers it a tasteless display
looked plastic,while the same object with tious systems for basic 3D that undersold of greed, mediocrity, and homogenizeda golden highlightlooked metallic.Quickly the market for flying logos, hitherto the gaudiness-in short, everything despimasteringthis sophistication,programmers bread and butter that funded software cable in American advertising-yet the
expanded their palettes to include silver research. Silicon Graphics introduced the chrome logo has been popular for years
and gold objects with silvery or golden Iris line of workstations. Soon thereafter now in television, movie titles, advertis-376

Sonya Shannon, The Chrome Agesubverted by virtual reality,with its promise of escape into
.i a hallucinogenicyet immaculate environment over which
we have godlike control.
Herein lies the chrome logo's
I if true significance:it serves as asurrogatemissile for those ofI
us whose dreams of extraterrestrialtravel evaporatedwith
the end of the space race.
Aesthetically, the chrome
logo's holographic black
background evokes the limitlessness ofthe cosmos. Our planet is more crowd-

ing, packaging, and even fine art [18].
Although the fanciful hues of pseudocoloring have lately found their way into
broadcast graphics, chrome logos-far
from being eliminated-abound as pro- Fig. 7. Icons of the ChromeAge
motions for networks, news, and serious- include (a) the sexy femalerobot,
minded concerns. Computers make it a (b) the indestructible T-looo, (c)relativelytrivial task to change colors and the melded virtual lovers, and (d)the mermaid-like spirit. Theirtextures once the geometry is built. With
malleable yet impervious surfaces
an inexhaustiblerange of virtual materials
glamorize utopian aspects of thewith which to dazzle the viewer, it is of simulatedworld. Still from[(a)historical significance that chrome is so Brillianceappears courtesy
widely used, and not something else say, of Robert Abel and Associates? 1985. (b) Still from Terminator2:wood, stone, or high-tech patterns.
Emanating from the center of digital JudgementDay appears courtesy of
Carolco Pictures Inc. Motion
wizardryas it does, exactlywhat aspect oflate twentieth centuryculture does the fly- Picture )1991 CarolcoPicturesInc. All Rights
Reserved. (c) Still from
LawnmowerMan ?1992, NewLine Productions,Inc. and Allied
Vision/Lane Pringle. All rights

reserved.Photo by Douglas
Kirkland. Photo appears courtesyof New Line Productions, Inc.
(d) Eiji Takaoki & META
Corporation, Japan, from Venus,
1990.

ing metal logo express?The answer lies in
our unconscious desires-particularlythosethwartedby the twists of high technology
over the last three decades. How many ofus were convinced in the sixtiesand seventies that we, personally, would visit themoon or sojournat a distantspace station?
Of course,we now know wewill never go,
but at least science will go there for us. We
have been lucky enough to see distantworlds up close, through satellite andspace-expeditionimagery-arguably among
the most excitingpicturesin the history ofart. Besides, our disappointmenthas beenfrom the planet and reach an inspired
consciousness is genuine, even noble, inlight of the problems we have yet tosolve among ourselves. In these days ofscientific visualization, recovered memories, and photomanipulated journalism,
the realism of 3D operates as a portal toanother dimension-thevirtual one
where we can manifest in lavish detailwhatever our hearts desire. For idealists
like me, it is conceivable that visions of
unparalleled beauty and peace may one
day coexist there alongside the war games
and science fiction horrors.
The computer-fabricated silver logo,
then, took us on our maiden voyage into

virtual reality.Its subsequent incarnations
have led to novel amusements-from
special-effects movies to motion-based
theme parks, from home entertainment
centers to video-game arcades. Whenyou strip away the stereoscopic goggles
and data suit, or the joystick and motion
mechanism, virtual reality is little otherthan animated 3D computer graphics-a
descendant of the chrome lineage.

]

ed now than ever before with humanpresences, but despite our dearest wishes we are earthbound. As we exhaust
earthly resources it is little wonder that
we turn toward virtual terrain and synthetic gold to exercise our innate territoriality and possessiveness. Only our
imaginings can ascend, as always, into
heaven-no longer the clouds-and-sunbeams heaven of nineteenth century
painting but the late twentieth century
heaven of black holes, whirlpool galaxies, and undulating nebulae brought to
us by science. Our longing to step back.
-~,~;:..
'

A2..,_ ~~~j~~~~~-?
-'~~~P71.-- f...
-

*,'.

.r

00il

Sonya Shannon, The Chrome Age

.,,
la

377

REALITYARTSCIENCEVIRTUAL

Discipline is abstract, theoretical, andimmaterial in nature,

Discipline is both abstract and sensoriallyperceptual in nature.

Discipline is generally physical, concrete,
and organic in nature.

Process goes from general denotation

Process goes from abstractions to vivid

Process goes from specific, precise

to precise abstraction.

experience.

abstraction to vital connotation.

Major intent is construction of genuine

Major intent is simulation of perceptible
events.

Major intent is communication of feelings.

propositions.
Concerned with information.

Concerned with presentation ofConcerned with evocation.

information as evocative experience.
Expression of factual truth based on
general observation converted into
theorems and abstractions.

Meaningful statements delivered according
to strict protocol.

Expression of appearances and behaviors
based on pure data or common
observations converted first into data andand converted into physical or conceptual

then into perceptible environments.

works.

Vivid perceptual experiences delivered by

Self-expression delivered by furthering
or overturning previous protocol.

imitating or simulating protocol ofExpression of personal, social & political
judgments based on individual perception

actual experiences.
Standards for evaluation are accepted andStandards for evaluation are not yet

Standards for evaluation are not necessarily

understood universally.

established.

accepted or understood without criticalinterpretation.

Value of contribution to field determined

Value of contribution to field currently

Value of contribution to field determinedby ability to be reiterated and expanded
upon by others.

determined by intensity, conviction, andby authenticity, originality, singularity ofwork, and its ability to influence or inspireothers.

singularity of experience.

Cultural status of scientific approach

Cultural status of virtuality currently

Cultural status of various art "isms"

comparable to a major religion.

comparable to a fad or obsession, but
still unresolved.

comparable to cults.

Fig. 8. Some attributesthat situatevirtualrealitybetween science and art.

Dynamic simulations of mirror-finishedspace are the common denominator of
the computerized entertainmentindustry,
and chrome logos are merely their humblest denizens-the made-for-TV version, so to speak.
Undeniably, the decade I've called theChrome Age (1975-1987)hardlyconstitutes
an age in the ancient sense. To avoid
exaggeration, I might have called it the
Chrome Hour, associating the birth of
VR with the time module endemic totelevision. Lately though, it seems thattime accelerates as quickly as our money
devalues, and an age simply isn't what it
used to be (somehow, the fleeting SpaceAge seems the most fitting example).
When information, machines, software,

378

SonyaShannon,The Chrome Ageand marketsare outmoded within a few of will occupy many a track on tomorrow's
history's minutes, the "hour" of chrome art historyCD-ROMs (or whateverformat
takes on more significancethan one might archives take). I interpretthe copious andsuspect. If mythology is a measure of continuing emulation of chrome logos asculturalsophistication,I am persuadedby certification of their noteworthiness inthe fact that the Chrome Age alreadyhas our culture;they have attaineda status on
several deities to its credit (Fig. 7). The a par with Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles,
silver Goddess Supremeis none other than MacDonald's, Disneyland, and Pong.
Robert Abel and Associates' sexy robot, Though still excluded from scholarly criwhile the liquid chrome Lord of the tique, the chrome logo is as distinguished
Underworldis the remarkableT-looo from an element of twentieth century design asJamesCameron'sTerminator
Day. Art Deco's graceful geometry, Art
2:Judgement
An age is erected by its authors. Yet, Nouveau's elegant twines, and thelike the anonymous artisans of ancient psychedelicera's exuberant paisleys. With
Greece, China, and Egypt, the identities their nostalgia for postwar automobile
of most Chrome Age programmer-anima- fenders and trademarks like Chevrolet,
tors have been lost or obscured (if they Frigidaire,and Westinghouse, they are awere ever noted). Still,I suspect theirwork symbol of the American Dream. They

also represent the pre-third-millennium
high-tech promises of robots and rocketships-and, of course, computers. Not
only do they continue to serve as ideal,
sterilizedpackaging for the evening news,
but chrome logos give us a traditional
image of riches to replace what we havelost as our financialexchanges are effected
increasinglywith plastic and paper.
Today's print media owe their relianceon 3D perspective,morphing,and warping
directly to Chrome Age tools. Despite its
flaws, the flying logo remainsan invincible
iterationof the word in the heyday of distressed,illegibletypographicdesign. In fact,
grunge graphics, dirty-face fonts, and thewhole "stupid culture" are, among otherthings, art's deliberately messy rebellion
against science's precision and cleanliness-a rebellion aimed at computer-generated wireframes, grids, and PostScript
typography. Science offered images anddigital imaging tools that are genuinely
new; art responded with the exhausted
ruins of letterforms-a personificationof
distress over the confiscation of its previously exclusivevisual territory.
A few years have passed, yet we arestill ambivalent about the legitimacy of
three-dimensional animation, our legacy
from the Chrome Age. Can it ever be art?
Or perhaps the question should be, canart ever be Art again,in post-virtual,scientifically visualized reality?And, as artists,
what do we do about our continued sibling rivalrywith techno-science types who
prefer machines to human beings and artificial worlds to the real one-and worse,
whose prowess in digital imaging incites
our jealousy, rage, and fear? While these
may be questions without answers,
perhaps we can understand virtual reality
better if we see it as a culturalbarometerof interests, fears, and hopes common toartistsand scientistsalike.Whether we liketo admit it or not, our reflection in time's
mirror shows us to be a culture whose
chief fantasy,next to godlike control overthe natural world, is the acquisition of
fortune in all its nostalgic, buried-treasure-chest glamour. In this light, thechrome logo is an emblem both of theAmerican Dream and of our lurking fearthat this dream of free enterprise leading
to the good life is as hollow as a computer-animatedobject. It is the same sus-demonstrates to the eye that the genesis
picion we bring to digital technologyfearing that it will empty our lives of the of complex surfaces can be compact,
abstractions.Our culture
solid, traditionaltreasureswe believe our human-determined
like
had
a
Midas
has
becometouch
obsessedwith the look of
and,grandparentsof chrome, leave us with mere simula- success paradingas wealth,progressposing
tions of everything in the world, even as reconciliationbetween art and science,love. While the sun was rising on the and science promising a safe landing at
virtual dominion we were momentarily the end of our mission into the great
blinded by the glare of flying chrome and mystery of existence. No better icon
mistakenly concluded that commercial- could representthe art of synthesizeduniized art-already the trash of the art verses than chrome-a fabricatedveneer
world-had become a kind of indispos- masqueradingas real metal, the cynosure
able toxic waste. But in retrospect, we of art's subjective reality and science's
were actually witnessing the alchemical objective verity fused into one.
moment of science fusing with art andReferences
and Notes
popular entertainment.
1.
TheEssentialConfucius:inAnalects
from
The
the
realism
15:28,
Ultimately,
potential
inAuthentic
software can be understood by artists in Heartof Confucius'
Teachings
I-Ching
one of two ways. Taken at face value, it Order,translatedand presentedby Thomas Clearyis the programmer's gift to the artist. (New York:HarperCollins,1992)p. 145.
Calculatedrealism is like an instant set of 2. I use the term "computerart"as an umbrellafoundation skills.Technique always comes for expressiveworks, includingentertainments,
at the beginning of creativity, before that should be distinguishedon the basis ofexpression can develop further.Of course, intent from computerscience pursuitssuch as
while the computer can draw images medicalvisualizations,militarysimulations,and
almost as well as a camera takes pho- the like.
tographs,we have yet to teach it to invent 3. Chrome,in this context, is a strictlyAmerican
artisticideas. Artists can rest assured that term that is both noun and adjective.Initially,Ihuman dreams,fantasies,hopes, and imag- was surprisednot to find the word "chrome"ininings are as indispensableto the future of Britishor CanadianEnglishdictionaries.
art and entertainment as they have ever Etymologically,the American"chrome"comes
been. We can learn to share imaging with from chromium,as in chromiumsteel, a lustrous
scientistsif we see virtualrealityas the ulti- silverymetal alloy used as a corrosion-resistantmate studio, not its usurper.
electroplatedcoating.During the fifties the word
After a more profound analysis,how- "chrome"became a popularshort form for decever, virtual reality can be deciphered as orativechromiumsteel automobilefenders,andan art in its own right, namely, the art of duringthe eighties,an adjectivefor computerscience made manifest (Fig. 8). For artists generatedshinylogos.
to dismiss 3D realism in the mistaken 4. PhilipB. Meggs'sauthoritativeHistoryof
Design(New York:Van Nostrand
belief that it reduces art to craft is no less Graphic
Reinhold,1992) is typicalin its utter omission ofa crime than for scientists to dismiss
chromelogos, despite coverageof corporate
Abstract Expressionism for its unforgivable (and possibly intentional) resem- identity,televisiontitles, and computer-generated
blance to a toddler's smears. If art is the typographyfor print.
creation of forms expressive of human 5. Sequentialinked drawingscreatethe illusionof movementwhen recordedand playedback.
feeling, then virtual reality expresses a
In film the framerateis 24 imagesper second,
profound human passion to understandnature in terms of logical abstractionsand or 1440 framesper minute,while in televisionit
is 30 framesper second, 1800 per minute.
reiterative, verifiable formulas-nothingother than the quest of many a scientist. Persistenceof vision connects the framesinto
The algorithms of realism convey the smooth motion.
6. Accordingto Alvy Ray Smithin conversation,
deep, almost religious conviction that creation is intelligible by cosmology alone. the first electronicpaintingapplicationwas
at Xerox Pare in 1974. Smith's
Just as abstract painting demonstrates to developed
which evolved into one named
Paint,
programthe intellect that profound ideas can be
was conceived at the New York
Images,invoked by minimizedvisuals,virtualreality

Sonya Shannon, The Chrome Age

379

Instituteof Technologyand ran initiallyon

term "aerialperspective"and comes down inmovie Star Trek III. She has lectured extensively

Digital EquipmentCorporationPDP-11 series
VAX computers.The QuantelPaintboxcame

favor of separateterms for its two features,on computer art, animation, interactivity, andatmosphericand color perspective.This
distinctionaccordswith entriesin Leonardoda

digital color and has designed numerous classes

out in the mid-eighties.
7. JaronLanier,an artist,musician,andis creditedwith coining the term
cybervisionary,"virtualreality."AuthorWilliamGibson created
Yet both of these
the word "cyberspace."
wonderfullyimaginativeterms arose in greatmeasurefrom the decadesof software
engineeringthat created3D space.
8. During the cold war, the Americanartistwas
held up as a symbol of freedomof speech andthought.Nowadays,artistsare blamedfor
disturbingsociety,as evidencedby the recent
controversyover whetherthe National
Endowmentof the Arts should fund Robert
Mapplethorpe,Andres Serrano,and other artists
whose work is deemed pornographicorotherwiseunacceptableby some people.
9. TimothyBinkleydefines digitalculturein his
landmarkessays"DigitalDilemmas"(Leonardo,
SupplementalIssue:SIGGRAPH'90 Art Show
Catalog,1990,pp. 13-19) and "The Quickeningof Galatea"(ArtJournal,Fall 1990,pp. 233-240).

Vinci's notebooks.
14. In an interview,Eugene Troubetzkoy(ofBlue Sky Productionsand authorof highly
respectedrenderingalgorithms)acknowledged
the need for better atmosphericand color
perspectives,but pointed to the alreadyslow
renderingtimes as the chief limitingfactor.To
simulatethe physicalforces underlyingtheseperspectiveswould requirecode at least as
cumbersomeas that requiredfor radiosity.
Non-physicallybased solutions,such as density
maps and particlesystems,finallyappearedin
high-endcommercialsoftwarein the earlynineties.
da Vinci,edited by
15. TheNotebooksofLeonardo
PamelaTaylor(New York:The New American
Library,1960) p. 61.
16. The virtualtheateris like a flotillain a vastcamerapositions,delivspace.Its interchangeable
small
ered througha
screen,resembleelementsof the stage combinedwith cinemaand TV.

to. A person who specializesin ideas yet works
in the lowest rankof a militarylikestructureis

17. PacificData Images (SanFrancisco)not only
survivedthe demise of the ChromeAge but

generallyconsideredsubversive,to be kept underclose watch or expelled.I recallthe dishonorable

became one of the industryleadersthroughsuch
innovationsas the morph.ChromeAge

dischargeof one talentedand soon-to-bepregnant"operator"after she evinced serious

companiesthat went bankruptincluded
Omnibus (Toronto,New York, and Los

concern over electromagneticemissions-consid-

Angeles),RobertAbel and Associates(LosAngeles),Digital Effects (New York),Digitalered potentiallydangerousto the fetus-fromthe displaydevices.Another artist(yourstruly)
was temporarilydemoted from hands-on
animatorto hands-off office assistant/secretary
afterinsistingtoo enthusiasticallythat z-buffer

Productions(Los Angeles),MagiSynthavision,
CranstonCsuri(Chicago),and Fantastic
AnimationMachine(New York).
18. PhotorealistpaintersRobertCottingham,

imagery(wildlycolored intermediaterenderings
used for depth calculation)would make stunning

Don Eddy, and RichardEstes exploredsigns

materialfor a logo treatment.

FeingoldexpressedBuddhistslogansthroughanimatedchromelogos in TheSurprising
Spiral

11. In the short historyof computerart, earlyshows such as "CyberneticSerendipity"(1966),"The Machineas Seen at the End of theand other chromedconsumerartifacts;Ken(1991);Nancy Dwyer sculptedsuperlativesin
chrome and other metals.

MechanicalAge" (1967),and the first several
SIGGRAPHart shows lavishlycreditedthe

Sonya Shannon is a faculty advisor for the

hardware,the software,and its author(theprogrammer)-with scarcelyan artistin sight.

graduate computer art department of the Schoolof Visual Arts in New York. She studied

12. See TimothyBinkley,"The Wizardof
EtherealPicturesand VirtualPlaces"(Leonardo,
SupplementalIssue: SIGGRAPH'89 Art Show

classical animation at Sheridan College in Canada

Catalog,1989).
13. I am followingthe recommendationput

produced, co-wrote, and designed an interactive
version of Josef Albers's Interactionof Colorthat

forth by WilliamDunningin Changing
Imagesof

appeared at the Guggenheim Museum in New
York. She has also done television spots andPictorialSpace:A History of SpatialIllusionin
Painting (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press,
1991), pp. 43-44. Dunning argues against the380

Sonya Shannon, The Chrome Ageand began her career as a computer animator at
Omnibus Computer Graphics. In 1987 she co-created works for a wide variety of venues,
including the Disney-MGM theme park and thefor the School of Visual Arts and Pratt Institute.