Herbert W. Franke
@HerbertWFranke
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Computer artist, scientist, philosopher (1927-2022)
Germany
Joined March 2022
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Hello World! I am Herbert and I am a dinosaur of computer art. This year I will have my 95th birthday. My first (still analog) computer art originates from 1954. Much more art work followed till now ...
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Dear friends in the world. It looks as if you are interested in my work. So I will show few images from different series once in a while. how it started: generative photography called Lichtformen 1952-55. Hope you like them.
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Herbert loved to call himself the dinosaur of computer art.
I am, Susanne, devastated to announce that our beloved dinosaur has left the earth.
He passed away knowing there is a community of artists and art enthusiasts deeply caring about his art and legacy.
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I am overwhelmed by your response! Thanks to all of you. Another image from 2009, titled flares - artistic visualisation of wavelets. My special interest: crossing borders between mathematics and visual arts.
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Looks like I've made it! I am 95 now!
This is Susanne's birthday gift for me—the dinosaur!—who is happy that he found a new world wide community.
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Never though it might be possible to find so many people interested in this field! When I started in the 50s, we were a few enthusiasts spread over the world, most of them I want to call friends. Obviously, together we achieved something, here my recognition for those pioneers.
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This weekend more artwork of mine. Two works of the series Wellenformen - back in 1953. Sometimes I called them Moirés, which makes clear how they were produced.
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You want to see more analog work? Here it is - Bandformen, a series from 1953-55, experiments with stetic principle in art. Synthetic stripes with parallel lines. More of this series will be shown in the exhibition Linz, soon.
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Here I am showing you my first book from 1957. Watch Subheadline: physics and mathematics as a photographic experiment. Only very, very few people were interested in those thoughts like my friend Gottfried Jaeger. The rest of the world ignored or even attacked them.
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I worked on MATH ART between 1980 and 1995. My idea was to reveal a universe of mathematics visualized through shapes and colors reminiscent of Pop Art.
For me, mathematics is the essence of visual art. The computer is a creative partner.
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Herbert left to the stars. But I, his external hard disk remain on earth and would love to stay in touch with his Twitter community. I sincerely appreciate the wonderful words you found for my exceptional Herbert as a person, scientist and artist. Thx from the bottom of my heart
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a new day, and a new series: In relation to Manuel's Tweet, also alternative spaces, it is the second series called Raumstudien (1952-57) ... similar setting as Lichtformen, but the white wire was not manually moved in space, but suspended and then rotated and/or moved laterally
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me and my external disk drive ... few months ago
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There were some questions: how did I come to Twitter being 95 years old. Well, I had an account long time ago, did not use it. But it was Alfred Weidinger and Anika visiting us concerning our exhibition in Linz. They said, that I am still known in the scene.
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It's one week now - and there are 12K followers of my Twitter account. I am overwhelmed by your praise for my early work. Too bad, I'm no longer 80. Charged with so much energy from your positive response, I would have started something completely new ...
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Tribute to Herbert W. Franke: The world of crypto art honors the life's work of one of its pioneers. It is wonderful that his legacy will live on.
My heart is filled with gratitude to all of the artists as well as to
@thisaintanika
for her support.
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Another series of the fifties: my experiments with x-rays. A machine for medical treatment of the human skin originally, used for screening fruits and flowers. A different view of the world, but as real as ours.
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I am a bit overwhelmed because there are a lot of firsts this year. Thank you for following my journey.
In 1979, I developed MONDRIAN, a dynamic program for image and sound for Texas Instruments. It will be on view on a 9m screen at the Tezos booth at
@ArtBasel
.
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Do you know that I had a second live - underground? My longest expedition was 2 weeks inside Dachstein mountains/Austria. I was team member of many discoveries of new spaces below earth. Made 1000s of photos. My last tour was 2006 - discovery of a small cave in the Sahara.
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Many thanks for your tributions and war mwelcomes. I am unable to react to all of them. But I am very, very honored that many of you call me a OG – to be open, I had to check what this means. But there are several others who contributed to that scene a lot.
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In VISIONARY, one of my most precious pieces are shown: Farbraster 1974. It was produced by one of the earliest ink spray plotters. I used this output device in a research center of Siemens Healthcare where they developed the first sintigraph machine (processing x-ray images).
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And now I will open a secret! Yes, I would not be able to do all this without help. But I am a lucky man, there is my wife Susanne. We are living together since 1979. And she helps me to do all this. Would be totally lost on my own without he!! She is my external hard disk drive!
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one of my early paintings - back in 1933 showing Prater in my home town Vienna!
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They told that I am still known in the modern scene. I was not so sure about this. But they told I should try an open an account. So here I am!
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a curiosity, found in our archives, I wanted to share: Probably one of the first selfies from the fifties in a cave ... showing me - photographed (long exposure) with several flashes of magnesium powder activated by fuses.
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First drop - what an excitement! But it is over now! Susanne documented me waiting for the drop ... I guess she was even more excited than me.
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Back into history: My very first exhibition 1959, shown at the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna: generative art with optical light as well as x-ray photography and my first oscillographs with an analog computer. Some of these works also soon in Linz at Francisco Carolinum
@ooe_art
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This is my final tweet before my MATH ART
@QuantumNFT
drop. Susanne and I are very excited to see what happens today. I am happy to share with you some of my history: my selection of 100 visualizations that show the beauty of mathematics.
May 31
5pm CET
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Between 1980 and 1995, Horst Helbig and I met at the German Aerospace Research Center usually every two weeks on Saturday in the otherwise abandoned institute to experiment with mathematical formulas.
The result is MATH ART. It's on display in my solo show at
@ooe_art
in Linz.
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Happy Birthday, Vera Molnar to your 99th birthday! She is pioneer in digital art and still active as an artist. She was part of the
#TributeHerbertWFranke
and donated a wonderful work. “I really liked him”, she said few months ago about her old friend.
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About 80 generative artists, photographers, poets, and virtual world builders working today were invited by art meets science – Foundation Herbert W. Franke to honor his life and work.
Go-live: 30 SEP | 11 AM CEST
NFT Drop 1: 30 SEP | 6 PM CEST
➡️
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Look at this beautiful poster design – it's for my exhibition titled VISIONARY in Linz (
@ooe_art
).
My thanks go to
@WeidingerAlfred
for presenting my work from the early days up to my journey into the Metaverse.
Join us for the opening on March 29.
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My exhibition - now open in Linz! So many thanks to Alfred
@weidingeralfred
(
@ooe_art
) and Francisco Carolinum. Some impressions the day before opening.
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To all buyers first this general thanks for all your wonderful congratulations. Made me very happy! Will look at them closer today afternoon or evening. Enthusiastic by our drop, we decided to launch our own collection yesterday night. Our first ever mint
@REAS
series Phototaxis
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Beginning of the 21st century, I got in contact with Derrick Woodham who set up a sculpture park at 3D-platform Active Worlds. I felt immeditately that this is a must vor me, too! I bought a piece of land and called it z-galaxy (z stands for Konrad Zuse).
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Making art was always research about aesthetics for me. What is the function of art work, how did it evolve, which evolutionary purpose does it serve? Anwers to these questions in “Phänomen Kunst”, my first book on information aesthetics published in 1967 (2 rev. versions later).
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You find them all in my book computer graphics – computer art that was posted here before. Year 1971. From Frieder Nake to Vera Molnar and Charles Csuri in the US. I am very happy that Zentrum für Kunst und Medien is establishing my archive in Karlsruhe ...
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My Quantum drop of Math Art: I am extremely happy that I can realize now a long-standing dream of Susanne: the entire sum will be donated to her own new charity "art meets science - Herbert W. Franke Foundation". She has great ideas! More details coming soon.
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@artnome
My old analog computer from 1954. It is still here. Shown in my 2010 exhibition in ZKM and at home backside.
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I am very happy and honored that some of Herbert‘s friends from back in the days will be part of the Tribute as well.
Frieder Nake
Gottfried Jäger
Mechthild Schmidt Feist
Tomislav Mikulic
Edgar Knoop
Derrick Woodham
Josef Linschinger
🔜
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Some background of my Math Art selection of
@QuantumNFT
: Project Math Art began in 1979 with a very first Fourier transformation. From 1980 on I and Horst Helbig explored the aesthetics of different mathematical disciplines till 1995 when the system was scrapped. Too bad.
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Today is the last day of my solo show VISIONARY at Francisco Carolinum in Linz (
@ooe_art
).
Thank you to everyone for celebrating my 95th birthday with me by engaging with my work.
My wife Susanne wrote a text about me 👉
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"At its recent activations at Art Basel, Tezos made a point to tie in the current NFT trend with the broader history of generative art. Works by Herbert W. Franke, one of the pioneers of algorithmic art, were on display (…)."
👉
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74 artists are part of the TRIBUTE TO HERBERT W. FRANKE.
Vera Molnár and
@SarahMeyohas
are now also confirmed.
🗓 30 September 2022
⏰ 6pm CET
📍
#TributeHerbertWFranke
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This is the story behind MATH ART, my NFT Drop on
@QuantumNFT
.
The MATH ART series was created on a computer at the German Aerospace Research Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
NFTs: 100 1/1s
May 31
5pm CET
Dutch auction: 1 > 0.25 ETH
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ZENTRUM is proof that Herbert was a visionary.
Thank you to the community and to …
…
@postanika
and
@ExpandedArt
for the marvelous support.
…
@aaronpenne
for translating Herbert’s code from 1982.
…
@eli_schein
and
@proof_xyz
for the collaboration and the support.
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1000 thanks to all buyers who supported us in this project to set up our foundation. And thanks to those how made it possible
@QuantumNFT
@RodolpheK
@MariieSalome
@WeidingerAlfred
@ooe_art
@thisaintanika
and a lot more people in the back office.
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... so all this written communication between these “old heroes” will be saved for future. More art work tomorrow.
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In 2021, Herbert reached out to Harry Yeff to discuss an audio-visual collaboration. He was intrigued by the VOICE GEMS.
Poems from Herbert were frozen as gemstones, created by Yeff, Bao, AI, and Herbert.
The NFT is now available for 0.03 ETH.
🔗
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On the occasion of the opening of my exhibition Visionary at the Francisco Carolinum in Linz
@ooe_art
I received the decoration of Honor of Upper Austria in Gold from Governor Thomas Stelzer. Very special honor. And so many people/young artists sharing this with me. Fabulous!
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a cooperation with Harry and Reeps last year - visualised 3 sci fi lyrics, part of my series "Astropoeticon". Great work!
The Astropoeticon
@voicegems_
are our collaboration with proto-OG digital art pioneer
@HerbertWFranke
- the three generative gemstones are generated in real time from Franke’s reading on extraterrestrial life, space and living itself ——- W/
@TBaoCreate
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Mathematics is the core of any art. That is my deep conviction—and it is what I wanted to demonstrate in 15 years of working on MATH ART (1980–1995).
We are still far away from understanding it. I hope the next generations will come closer.
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"Outside the Unlimited section, a show-stopping booth by the Tezos Foundation featured Herbert W. Franke, the 95-year-old pioneer of generative art, whose work was presented alongside younger artists like Aleksandra Jovanic, Ryan Bell, Eko33, & Sam Tsao."
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@BLCKTVVTTR
what do you mean by "prior" - I studied physics - and saw the beauty of nature, wanted to understand what it is, tried to explore beauty and produce beauty. I made photographs in caves before - but this was mapping reality, but I wanted to create beauty by electronic means
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as ther are a few questions concerning how they were done - in German only
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2005 I opened it starting to implement pavilions and trees, all objects generated by mathematics using software Mathematica. 2008 I opened z-galaxy officially showing art work by myself and riends doing algorithmic work. The historic setting is still there!
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dear newly found friends - thanks a lot for coming and sharing the opening. our family foto!
@kevinabosch
@rossnermanuel
@thisaintanika
@martina_menegon
@damjanski
@priska_pasquer
@damdigitalart
@quasimondo
@office_impart
@janrobertleegte
@jegerrard
@weidingeralfred
(
@ooe_art
)
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I chose 100 images from MATH ART for my NFT Drop on
@QuantumNFT
.
In 1980, I began a 15 year collaboration with programmer Horst Helbig at the German Aerospace Center. We studied mathematical disciplines in relation to aesthetics.
MATH ART is the output of our research.
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"(…) there is a long history of artists making generative computer art, which is why I’m so glad that early pioneers like Herbert W. Franke are starting to be recognized in the space".
–
@thefunnyguysNFT
(
@outland_art
)
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"Generative art emerged as far back as the 1960s, spearheaded by the pioneering likes of Vera Molnár and Herbert Franke, who used system-based design thinking to engineer random and iterative works."
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Thanks to all of you. You made me very proud with your birthday greetings/visuals! It is so good to make this experience of a global and active community now. Enjoy 3 historic documents preserved in the ZKM Archive Herbert W. Franke with hundreds of letters - old style comm!
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The aesthetics of the mathematical formula world of MATH ART is characterized by colors. I developed special color compositions with which one could "wander" on the real-time computer as if through a three-dimensional landscape by a rolling mouse for 3D movement.
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Another interview with the dinosaur. Golem is titling my statement: Things are not getting better, but different." There is no real hope. Humans still remain creatures of the stone age - even in the metaverse.
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#TributeHerbertWFranke
30 SEP | 6 PM CEST
Loren Bednar | Christian Bök | Sterling Crispin | Fingacode | Gin | Aleksandra Jovanić | William Kolomyjec | Helena Sarin | Marcel Schwittlick | Sam Solooki | Anne Spalter | Iskra Velitchkova | Whistlegraph
➡️
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Tribute project 1: Digitization of 2000 typewritten manuscripts by Herbert starting from the 1950s is completed. They are preserved in the
@zkm_collections
Karlsruhe in the HWF-Archive. Now work has begun in ZKM to set up the online tool for public access in the coming weeks.
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Herbert W. Franke was inspired by the work of Heinrich Heidersberger and his Rhythmogram machine as a young artist in the 50s. Heidersberger’s son, in contact with Herbert since the 1970s, is part of the
#TributeHerbertWFranke
donating a Rhythmogramm to
@Foundation_HWF
.
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opening panel of my exhibition Visionary
@ooe_art
- moderated by wonderful Anika
@thisaintanika
with Christa Sommerer, Kenvin
@kevinabosch
, my wife Susanne, Georg Bak, Genoveva
@RuckertGenoveva
, Rafael via video
@newrafael
and exceptional portrait donation by Christa and Laurent
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Many thanks to
@RtClick_Save
to get the possibility to talk about my old ideas. And see a historic interview with the dinosaur, found in the
@zkm_collections
ZKM-Archiv Herbert W. Franke! x-ray photography as a proof of art 1956 ...
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The minus root is a number that belongs to the field of IMAGINARY NUMBERS. Today, mathematicians have no trouble calculating with them. But their inconceivable diversity of aesthetics was unknown.
Find my selection from MATH ART on
@QuantumNFT
👉
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"The fundamental principles of aesthetics are not limited to art, but are quite universal, and can thus be applied to scientific visualizations as well." Herbert W. Franke in
@____zine____
print issue 001.
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We are in the process of setting up the foundation. Articles of association almost ready. Logo combined with L. Boltzman’s entropy formula fixed. He came from Vienna, our family knew his son. I think he is one of the greatest thinkers of 19th century.
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Random laws are extremely important in physics and biology. STOCHASTICS was a series that looked at the creation of "islands of order," which are vital for understanding the link between order and chaos in art.
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To my German speaking followers: "Welche Rolle hat denn Kunst? ... Es geht darum, Lernprozesse auszulösen. Es geht darum, den einzelnen weiterzubringen." My latest Telepolis interview.
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To my German speaking followers a short note. Tonight a report about my work and the exhibition opening of VISIONARY in Francisco Carolinum
@ooe_art
will be broadcasted in Austrian television ORF. It will be online in the mediathek for one week.
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Brigitte Kowanz and the speed of light in the 21st century! Just as exciting today as it was 70 years ago.
The exhibition ISTR // Brigitte Kowanz is opening today at Schlossmuseum Linz. 💡
The specially developed installations & objects follow Kowanz’s exploration of the speed of light and Morse signs, and at the same time contain reminiscences of the early works of the 1980s.
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and even more to share! Do you understand the meaning in it? Many thanks to
@WMDCollective
from Susanne and me.
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@mikebrondbjerg
even closer - look! Oszillogramme calculated by analog computer pscilloscope output device 5 x 5 cm photographed 1954-58. - like your works! aesthetics is aesthetics is aesthetics ..
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Here‘s the story behind the VOICE GEMS AUTOPOETICON available as an Open Edition until Saturday, 6 PM CET.
Herbert, who was also a caver and rock collector, became interested in VOICE GEMS in 2021, and soon a collaboration emerged.
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They were developed to visualize the structures of mathematical formulas. The numerous color combinations created serve to clarify mathematical principles but at the same time follow purely aesthetic principles.
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In the FIELDS series, I looked into matrix fields. Calculation rules are derived from basic arithmetic operations, but they depart from them in various ways, providing unexpected visualizations.
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„Den Betrachter erwartet eine bunte, abwechslungsreiche Schau mit durchaus komplexem theoretischen Hintergrund. Denn Franke war ein Pionier der digitalen Kunst und hat sich früh mit fremden Welten beschäftigt.“
🗞
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Austrian press coverage: "Franke anticipated much of what is now commonplace in the market. The metaverse - everyday name for the 'other,' virtual reality - was conceived by Franke long before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg."
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Thank you ZKM
@zkm_collections
. It is great that you are watching over my archive!
@HerbertWFranke
@ooe_art
We've found a few more documents in the archives on the exhibition 'experimentelle ästhetik' at the MAK Vienna. More to follow.
#herbertwfrankearchives
@zkmkarlsruhe
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Why is the VOICE GEM by Herbert this color?
In 2021, the rules for the VOICE GEMS generative system were set. For each voice, the artists do not get to choose the colour and shape of each gem.
▪️ Open Edition
▪️ available until April 1
▪️ 6 PM CET
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"We must create emotional bridges. A lot of the academics, the artists themselves, the bold institutions back in the day ... tended to intellectualize the art ... They looked at it scientifically."
@kevinabosch
at the panel
@ooe_art
- transcription here
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our sci fi magazine collection. Much better organized in Karlsruhe than it was here at home!
We are excited that the Francisco Carolinum Linz is dedicating a major exhibition to the amazing Herbert W. Franke! A wonderful occasion to share some treasures from the Herbert W. Franke Archives that were established at ZKM in 2017.
@HerbertWFranke
@ooe_art
#fromthezkmarchives
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MONDRIAN is a dynamic generative program created on a TI-99/4, the first 16-bit home computer. It is named after the Dutch artist of the very same name, who was a pioneer of constructivism.
Watch the 21:21 min long video here:
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From this contact grew a 15-year collaboration during which the extensive work MATH ART was created. It succeeded due to the fact that there was a special rule at the institute: on weekends, employees were allowed to use the computing system for private purposes.
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The project
#tribute
to Herbert W. Franke started one year ago. Artists from all over the world participated with donations in the amount of more than 100,000 €. They are used to preserve his written legacy and to support Namibian students in computer science.
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That's right. Ars Ex Machina was a project of Kuenstlerhaus Vienna in 1978. I made the concept for it, but it was not realized at the end. Should be an international symposium and big exhibition about art and technology - from fireworks to computers.
EX MACHINA. A History of Generative Art presenting some artworks by Gottfried Jäger, Vera Molnar, Franke, Snowfro, Dimitri Cherniak, Eduardo Kac and Vladimir Bonacic. A tribute to the exhibition Ars Ex Machina which was initiated by
@HerbertWFranke
in the 70s in Vienna
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“art meets science –
@HerbertWFranke
”
July 17, 2023, 7 p.m.
event
@Computer_Museum
Kiel honoring the pioneer of digital art and the visionary of the metaverse
lectures - exhibition - "Astopoeticon"
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I am looking forward what will happen there.
Join us! ✌️
Offline or online, on the occasion of the opening of
@HerbertWFranke
‘s exhibition VISIONARY at FC (
@ooe_art
), Linz.
🎤 Speakers:
Susanne Päch
@RuckertGenoveva
@newrafael
@kevinabosch
Christa Sommerer
Georg Bak
🎤 Moderation:
☝️
📺
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Nice Memories of opening VISIONARY in Linz
@ooe_art
produced by Susanne - with statements of
@WeidingerAlfred
@kevinabosch
@quasimondo
@martina_menegon
@RossnerManuel
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Many thanks to all of you, who are part of this wonderful project or made it happen!
@WeidingerAlfred
@ooe_art
@thisaintanika
@RuckertGenoveva
@QuantumNFT
@justinaversano
@RodolpheK
and many others in the back office. I am honored to be part of the Quantum family now.
Quantum Curation Team is thrilled to announce "Math Art" by
@HerbertWFranke
, a collection of 100 1/1s hand-curated by the master himself from his iconic series ‘Math Art’.This is his first work ever minted. Created between 1980 and 1995.
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Triendl brought me together with Horst Helbig, a physicist and computer scientist. At the institute, he was instrumental in the ongoing development of the picture processing algorithms and the software DIBIAS (Digital Image Evaluation System). He was interested in my thoughts.
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