AB 101: Historical Figures in Generative Art — Herbert W. Franke
Even in my youngest days, I was impressed with unusual pictures of an aesthetic point of view. This interest was never passive. It was an active challenge, to develop different methods for producing pictures…. After my first period of generative photography, I began to use computers and mechanical plotters. Since then, I have found more and more interesting possibilities for producing new types of pictures, in 2D and 3D, and also in motion, or interactive, or in connection with music.
— Herbert W. Franke
Herbert W. Franke is many things — among them, an early computer art pioneer. His resume includes accomplished academic, teacher, fiction writer, cave researcher, computer artist, collector, and theoretician. Die Zeit calls him “the most prominent German writing Science Fiction author.” A comprehensive understanding of Franke’s broader influence would require its own series, so we will focus on Franke’s importance in the history of computer art.
Franke was born in Vienna in 1927 where he would earn his Doctorate in Theoretical Physics at the University of Vienna in 1951. He would start his professional career with Siemens the following year where he would begin to practice experimental photography. One of these experiments was, Pendular Oscillogram, originally created in 1956. To capture this image, Franke used an analog computer and a cathode ray oscillograph to capture images from electronic signals.
Starting in 1956, Franke would work as a freelance science fiction writer. His list of published work is extensive, and his work in the field of cave research is particularly interesting. A significant number of German-speaking speleologists learned about caves from Franke’s books and his influence on the field cannot be overestimated. He also wrote several articles about caves on Mars that found readership among scientists and the broad public. Sorry for the detour, but I found this part of Franke’s biography fascinating. Back to the art.
In the 60s, Franke would start teaching primarily about cybernetic aesthetics and computer art and continue developing his work on experimental aesthetics. By 1969, Franke was creating plotter drawings at the Siemens research lab in Munich.
In 1970, Frank participated in the 35th Biennale di Venezia exhibition alongside Frieder Nake and Georg Nees. These early exhibitions were some of the first to ever show computer art and were the cutting-edge of both the art and technical world. To capture this unique moment in history, Franke would write the first comprehensive history of computer art in 1971, Computergrafik — Computerkunst.
Throughout the 70s Franke would continue exploring the intersection of art and technology, and in 1979, co-founded the transcendent Ars Electronica — a leading cultural, educational, and scientific institute headquartered in Linz, Austria.
Franke’s list of publications is too extensive to list here; suffice to say that he is an accomplished author. He has also received 12 awards including the Life Time Award of the European Science Fiction Society “European Grand Master of Science Fiction”, in 2016. Franke’s work can be seen all over the world, including in the Abteiberg Museum, ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Kunsthalle Bremen, and Victoria and Albert Museum.
Major Works
Photo reproduction after screen image. The analog graphic was built with a cathode ray oscillograph.
