Graphics Gems V (IBM Version)

Foreword

Andrew S. Glassner

Computer graphics exists because people have messages to communicate. As our tools for rendering, modeling, and animation become more sophisticated, we find it ever easier to create meaningful statements. But the tools of graphics are rarely the point of our enterprise; our goal is to enable meaningful communication of important ideas. To create meaning we must make creative choices, and this leads us to the creation of art.

There are many ways to define art, and perhaps no definition will ever work universally. For now, I will use a broad definition that includes all “technical” creations and say that any creative act can result in art, whether it produces a painting, a song, a video showing tidal forces on Saturn, ...