The exhibition “Programmierte Kunst. Frühe Computergraphik” [Programmed Art. Early Computer Graphics] displays important works from the field of early computer graphics and sheds light on the connection between art and technology.
The exhibition “Cybernetic Serendipity. The Computer and the Arts” which was on show in London, New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. in 1968, presented computer films and graphics and computer-generated music for the first time, similar to the exhibition held in the same year in Zagreb entitled “Tendencies 4. Computers and Visual Research”. They helped computer art to achieve international recognition and formed a basis for investigating the interfaces between science, technology, and art. Not only is 2018 the fiftieth anniversary of these two important events, it is also the year in which the pioneer of computer art, Frieder Nake, celebrates his 80th birthday. In 1963, Nake developed a drawing program at the Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart. By linking the institute’s computer with the drawing machine invented by the computer pioneer Konrad Zuse, it was possible to create aesthetic computer-generated drawings for the first time. Nake was involved in designing this exhibition which also shows two of his latest works. In addition, works by Ruth Leavitt, Harold Cohen, Georg Nees, and Herbert W. Franke will also be on display. The selection of computer-generated prints on display comes entirely from the Bremen collection of 1955 to 1979, which in turn consists largely of works from the collection of Herbert W. Franke.