Herbert W. Franke (1927-2022) was a pivotal figure in bridging the gap between art and science, who worked between science, literature and art. 

ESTATE OF HERBERT W. FRANKE

ARTIST

Herbert W Franke: CODED BEAUTY  2–26 March 2023 EXPANDED.ART | BERLIN
CODED BEAUTY is comprised of eight works from Franke’s series MATH ART created between 1980 and 1995, early generative photographs from the 1950s, his Biennale serigraphy, including QUADRATE (1969/70), and further serigraphies. 
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HERBERT W FRANKE | CODED BEAUTY

HERBERT W. FRANKE | VOICE GEMS

Known as a universal genius, Herbert W. Franke (1927-2022) is the forefather of computer art, co-founder of Ars Electronica, mastermind of the Metaverse, and science-fiction writer. He spent his entire career bridging the worlds of art and science.
EXPANDED.ART represents the estate of Herbert W. Franke. 
ABOUT MATH ART In 1980, Herbert W. Franke began a fifteen-year collaboration with programmer Horst Helbig at the German Aerospace Center. Together, they studied mathematical disciplines in relation to aesthetics. The series MATH ART is the output of their research at the intersection of science and art. It reveals a universe of numbers transformed into images through a variety of shapes and colors reminiscent of Pop Art. 
Throughout his entire life, Herbert W. Franke used mathematical principles for art experimentation. From the very beginning, it was clear to him that it is the artist's mission to examine new technologies and their social significance through the lens of their creative potential. For Herbert W. Franke mathematics are the essence of visual arts. While he saw the artist as an analytical maker using mathematics to create structures, he assigned the computer the task of modulating these principles of order through varying random processes. Franke, therefore, considered the computer as a creative partner for the artist very early on.
The color served to code certain structural elements and was of fundamental importance. The computer system at DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen, which was powerful at the time, had integrated output equipment with which the digitally developed image worlds were transferred directly to high-resolution photo film. On his own DOS PC, Franke created the preparatory work for the captivatingly vivid aesthetics of this mathematical investigation.
In the beginning, there were algebraic formulas for three-dimensional spatial areas: The three dimensions were converted into two-dimensional landscapes, whereby the "contour lines," i.e., the z-axis of the room, were color-coded with specially developed color grids. Starting with algebraic landscapes, the two worked their way through a wide variety of disciplines via wave functions, Fourier transformations, broken dimensions, and logical connections, until they finally visualized complex and irrational numbers as well as random processes and logical connections with their method.
ABOUT EXPANDED.ART's HISTORICAL EDITIONS EXPANDED.ART’s Historical Editions are artistically influential works by pioneers of digital art from the 20th century. By representing estates, EXPANDED.ART ensures the legacy of both artists and artworks and recontextualizes them for a new audience.
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Math Art Komet

Known as a universal genius, Herbert W. Franke (1927-2022) is the forefather of computer art, co-founder of Ars Electronica, mastermind of the Metaverse, and science-fiction writer. He spent his entire career bridging the worlds of art and science.
EXPANDED.ART represents the estate of Herbert W. Franke. 
ABOUT MATH ART In 1980, Herbert W. Franke began a fifteen-year collaboration with programmer Horst Helbig at the German Aerospace Center. Together, they studied mathematical disciplines in relation to aesthetics. The series MATH ART is the output of their research at the intersection of science and art. It reveals a universe of numbers transformed into images through a variety of shapes and colors reminiscent of Pop Art. 
Throughout his entire life, Herbert W. Franke used mathematical principles for art experimentation. From the very beginning, it was clear to him that it is the artist's mission to examine new technologies and their social significance through the lens of their creative potential. For Herbert W. Franke mathematics are the essence of visual arts. While he saw the artist as an analytical maker using mathematics to create structures, he assigned the computer the task of modulating these principles of order through varying random processes. Franke, therefore, considered the computer as a creative partner for the artist very early on.
The color served to code certain structural elements and was of fundamental importance. The computer system at DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen, which was powerful at the time, had integrated output equipment with which the digitally developed image worlds were transferred directly to high-resolution photo film. On his own DOS PC, Franke created the preparatory work for the captivatingly vivid aesthetics of this mathematical investigation.
In the beginning, there were algebraic formulas for three-dimensional spatial areas: The three dimensions were converted into two-dimensional landscapes, whereby the "contour lines," i.e., the z-axis of the room, were color-coded with specially developed color grids. Starting with algebraic landscapes, the two worked their way through a wide variety of disciplines via wave functions, Fourier transformations, broken dimensions, and logical connections, until they finally visualized complex and irrational numbers as well as random processes and logical connections with their method.
ABOUT EXPANDED.ART's HISTORICAL EDITIONS EXPANDED.ART’s Historical Editions are artistically influential works by pioneers of digital art from the 20th century. By representing estates, EXPANDED.ART ensures the legacy of both artists and artworks and recontextualizes them for a new audience.
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Math Art Fraktal

MORE FROM THIS ARTIST

Herbert W. Franke is a universal genius, you can say that with a clear conscience. For several decades he separated three lives: he was the caver and scientist, the artist and curator, the art theorist and the science fiction author. Only on the occasion his solo exhibition in 2010 at the ZKM Karlsruhe did he bring these three lives and careers together under the title "Wanderer Between the Worlds". In the early 1950s caving led him to experiment with light and technology. He kept his curiosity throughout his life; it was his drive to examine new technologies for their artistic potential. His pioneering spirit made him one of the first computer artists who was more than six decades ahead of his time. Franke discussed his visionary practice with Anika Meier in June 2022.

INTERVIEW WITH HERBERT W. FRANKE

"TECHNOLOGY IS NOT A THREAT TO ART"

As pioneers of digital art, Herbert W Franke and Lee Mullican have left behind a significant legacy. Anika Meier discusses the artists' impact on today's digital art and NFT scene with representatives of their Estates, Susanne Päch and Cole Root. 

EARLY DIGITAL ART'S INFLUENCE ON NFTS

HERBERT W. FRANKE & LEE MULLICAN: PIONEERS AND THEIR LEGACY

Herbert W. Franke first encountered Harry Yeff’s work in Linz in the summer of 2021. Both were part of the exhibition PROOF OF ART at the Francisco Carolinum in Linz, the first museum to tell the brief history of NFTs. Franke, who was also a caver and rock collector, became interested in Harry Yeff and Trung Bao's work, VOICE GEMS, and soon a collaboration emerged: Yeff asked about the potential of using Franke's voice in an audio-visual production, and Franke responded by sending one of his voice gems, which is a vocal work of art in itself. 

In conversation with Anika Meier, Susanne Päch, the wife of Herbert W. Franke, Harry Yeff, and Trung Bao talk about the collaboration that began in 2021. Päch, who today heads the art meets science – Foundation Herbert W. Franke and lived with the artist and scientist for 40 years, also tells more about Franke's fascination with stones and what this has to do with the beginning of his artistic career.

The Beauty of Nature and An Archive of Voices

"YOUR VOICE IS YOUR IDENTITY"

MAGAZINE

A NEW BEGINNING | GALLERY

Herbert W Franke's solo exhibition CODED BEAUTY explores the extensive oeuvre of the digital pioneer. It gives an overview of Franke’s belief in the artist’s mission to use technology to open up previously unimagined artistic territories.

CODED BEAUTY 

HERBERT W. FRANKE | GALLERY

The exhibition presents pioneers from different generations, early 1950s until today, working in the field of generative art. On view will be, among others, plotter drawings, generative photography, sculptures, and NFTs from 30 international artists. In collaboration with ELEMENTUM.ART.

GROUP SHOW

THE THINKING MACHINE. PRESENTING PIONEERS, 1953-2023 | GALLERY & SHOWROOM

EXHIBITION

DRAKULA stands for Dragon Curves Superimposed (German: Drachenkurven überlagert). The dragon curve is a fractal object. The basic idea was first explored by NASA physicists John Heighway, Bruce Banks, and William Harter and described by Martin Gardner in his 1967 Mathematical Games column in Scientific American. However, the mathematical theory for this was not developed until 1970 by the mathematician Chandler Davis and the computer scientist Donald Knuth.

Dragon curves are created by sequences of left and right turns according to certain rules. The program allows dragon curves of different orders – or sections of them – to be lined up and superimposed. Left and right turns were not only represented in the usual way by right-angled bends but also by mathematically defined elements, such as triangles or curved sections of curves with multiple curves. These elements were designed in such a way that when they are superimposed, clearly recognizable new form elements are created through overlaps and attachments. The superimposition of closed curves in different colors is particularly attractive. The dragon curves were also interesting for Franke as an object of experimental aesthetics and for his studies on information psychology, since here the rare case of an easy possibility of specifying their statistical information (complexity) occurs; this is equal to the number of 0,1 indications used to construct it.

Franke also overlaid dragon curves – mostly mirrored – and not only used straight lines as individual elements but also other shapes, such as semicircles or triangles, as basic elements.

The pictures of DRAKULA were made with a Siemens System 4004. The Fortran program was written by Peter Henne from the Gesellschaft für Datenverarbeitung GMD according to detailed specifications from Franke. The plots were realized by Peter Vordermaier at Siemens AG. A complete printout of the program is available. 
 
ABOUT EXPANDED.ART'S HISTORICAL EDITIONS

EXPANDED.ART’s Historical Editions are artistically influential works by pioneers of digital art from the 20th century. By representing estates, EXPANDED.ART ensures the legacy of both artists and artworks and recontextualizes them for a new audience.

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