Stan VanDerBeek: Micro Kosmos focuses on VanDerBeek's pioneering engagement with early computers as image-generating tools, centering on his POEMFIELDS film series (1962–71), made in collaboration with Bell Labs engineer Ken Knowlton using the BEFLIX animation language on an IBM 7090. Single frames isolated from these computer animations were translated into color silkscreens and etchings — including the Moveable Mandalas series, presented for the first time since 1976. Written over fifty years ago at MIT, VanDerBeek's text The Technological Revolution accompanies the exhibition, its concern for holding onto humanity amid technological acceleration striking with renewed relevance today.
