Ben F. Laposky

Laposky joined the United States Army and was inducted into Fort Des Moines in 1942. He scored 134 in his army general classifications test, which placed him up in the upper give percent of what the army classified as "the ability to learn rapidly"; his mechanical aptitude test was 145.[2] He was sent overseas with the 43rd Infantry division headquarters general staff section (G-3) assigned as a map draftsman (T-4).

As a technical sergeant, he was wounded in the right foot during a Japanese bombing raid at Rendona Island, Solomon Islands, (New Georgia Munda airfield campaign) in July 1943 (for which he received the Purple Heart). He spent 10 months in army hospitals in New Zealand and Alabama. He was discharged with disability in May 1944 after two years of service, returning to his home in Cherokee, Iowa.[2]

Laposky returned to his original work, but was no longer able to climb ladders as is required by a sign painter, so he focused on lettering smaller cards and draftsman and student of mathematics, providing many Magic Number Squares to the Ripley's Believe it or Not! syndicated newspaper feature. He owned a sign shop in Iowa and dabbled in art in his spare time. Envisioning "painting with light".[3] He took extension courses in elementary drafting from the University of Chicago.[2]

In 1946, Laposky began working with photographic pendulum tracings and harmonograph machine patterns.[2]

In 1947, he read an article in Popular Science which proposed the use of television testing equipment, such as oscilloscopes, to generate simple decorative patterns, based on in formula similar to that which governs pendulum curves. This stoked his imagination and he began to investigate the proposal.[4]

In 1950, Laposky used a cathode ray oscilloscope with sine wave generators and various other electrical and electronic circuits to create abstract art, so called by the artist, "electrical compositions".[5] These electrical vibrations shown on the screen of the oscilloscope were then recorded using still photography. In later work he also incorporated motorized rotating filters of variable speed to color the patterns.

The color photos of the Oscillons were mostly made originally on Aero Ektachrome film, both 35mm and 4x5. This was used because it had good color density and contrast - also because it was less costly as surplus for some years. Exposures vary from 1/20 at f1.2 to f2, closeup at about 15 inches from scope screen. Cameras used were a Praktica and a Nikon. For the 4x5 work I used a B&J press with a German war surplus aerial lens, an f2 tessar if 120mmf.1. Most of the 35mm images were in motion in some or all of the traces (besides the electron beam motion itself). The 4x5 traces were taken at about 1/2 second, also at f2, and usually were static, the trace motion stopped by sync circuits in the oscilloscope. The black and white photos were made mostly on Linagraph film, a special high contrast film by Kodak for oscillograph photography. Some 4x5 work was done on Royal Pan and other fast films."

— Arts Magazine, "Ben F. Laposky: A Midwestern Pioneer of Absolute Light Form" June 1980[6]

Scripta Mathematica published the first Oscillon photographs in 1952. Laposky's work was featured in over 250 books, magazines, newspapers, advertising art work worldwide.[2] An art portfolio in Fortune magazine in 1956 won a New York Art Directors Club gold medal for best editorial of the year.[2]

Laposky was interested in showing the designs or patterns based on natural forms, curves due to physical forces, or curves based on mathematical principles, such as various waveforms (sine-waves, square waves and Lissajous figures). According to the exhibit documentation, Laposky pointed out a parallel between his oscillons and music, the operator of an electronic setup playing a sort of "visual music".

In 1952 Laposky displayed his work in a one-man show entitled "Electronic Abstractions" at Sanford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa. As a traveling exhibit, "Electronic Abstractions" was shown across the United States and in France at LeMons and other places by the Cultural Relations Section of the United States from 1952 to 1961.

Electronic Abstractions are a new kind of abstract art. They are beautiful design compositions formed by the combination of electrical wave forms as displayed on a cathode-ray oscilloscope. The exhibit consists of 50 photographs of these patterns . A wide variety of shapes and textures is included. The patterns all have an abstract quality, yet retain a geometrical precision . They are related to various mathematical curves, the intricate tracings of the geometric lathes and pendulum patterns, but show possibilities far beyond these sources of design."

— Sanford Museum, Gallery notes for Electronic Abstractions, 1952

In total, Laposky's art was published more than 160 times and displayed at more than 200 exhibitions before the emergence of computer graphics upstaged him in the mid 1960s.[3]

Laposky cited and admired Naum Gabo, Joan Miró, Piet Mondrian, Victor Vasarely, Kazimir Malevich, Fernand Léger, Marcel Duchamp, Alexander Calder and some of the Synchromism and Futurism artists.[7]

Some praise of the Oscillon work by Laposky: "The Oscillons are among the most sensually and spiritually exhilarating images of the entire history of human vision,".[7] "The rhythm and balance in each piece reflect not only the artist’s vision but the ordered principles underlying the physical world." Fred Camper, The Chicago Reader, August 2006[8]

From 1934 through August 1946, Ripley's Believe It or Not! had printed 77 of Laposky's Magic Square number problems.[7] In total 117 of Laposky's geometric number arrangements ("magics") were printed in the Believe it of Not newspaper feature.[7] Laposky's work on these number matrices lead to his election for membership in the Mathematical Association of America in 1950.

Laposky wrote about his magic square: "The crystallization in numbers of some small part of the beauty, harmony and rhythm or the universe.".[9] It is likely that Laposky's early work in these Magic Squares and deeper introspection into their inner workings had profound influence on his latter work on Oscillons.