Father/Daughter Science/Art 1949/2025

This piece was inspired when my family found an article co-written by my dad in 1949 called “Computers and Their Uses,” in the Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Inc. Albert Eugene Smith worked on the development of computers early on, starting the first computer newsletter, heading one of three committees that developed COBOL, and being the Navy liaison for Project Whirlwind. I became interested in the graphic quality of the electrical drawings in the article and began experimenting with simplifying them so I could paint them onto stoneware bowls. This piece has become a way to commemorate this work in this field. Each of the six boxes contains a bowl that relates to one of six drawings. The drawings have been reproduced in frames to be displayed with the bowls. Each photograph becomes the top to the box, which can be used for storage when not on display.