DRAWING ON THERMAL PAPER

This 1982 plotter drawing offers a window into early computer graphics. Created using a CAD program driven by HP-GL (Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language), it combines geometric precision with layered visual complexity. The drawing includes rectangles, circles, and flowing lines—some solid, others dashed—suggesting multiple layers, trajectories, and data points. At the top, a command menu displays abbreviated plotting functions such as 'SAV' (save), 'PLT' (plot), and 'MOV' (move), reflecting the manual, code-based interaction typical of early design software. These commands would have been entered to generate and plot visual data via vector instructions. This interrupted drawing illustrates the dialogue between human input and machine execution, revealing the technical language behind creative visual expression at the dawn of generative art.