In 1966, at the cusp of the computer age, Olof Johannesson published the sci-fi novel The Tale of the Big Computer, about the rise to power of an all-encompassing, perfectly rational computer network. But “Olof Johannesson” never existed—the name concealed the identity of Hannes Alfvén, the 1970 winner of the Nobel Prize in physics. Alfvén's novel, a Swedish best seller, inspired in turn a “computer opera” by the composer Karl-Birger Blomdahl, never to be completed or premiered after Blomdahl died of a heart attack. Artist Anna Lundh's research involves investigating the remaining material in order to reconstruct this forgotten cultural history, which ends up connecting dots between people and ideas about art and technology, from Stockholm to New York, as well as to reveal and discuss artistic work methods, process and visions.
This text is an adaptiation of an essay originally published in Triple Canopy, 2011.
https://www.canopycanopycanopy.com/contents/the_tale_of_the_big_computer