In 2012, this was the first virtual exhibition by this Gallery, online today in a shortened version.
It presents the work of MBB Computer Graphics, a Computer Art group based in Munich in 1971/72.
The graphics presented here were generated 1971/72 by the computer artists Frank Böttger, Sylvia Roubaud/Gerold Weiss, Aron Warszawski, and Rolf Wölk. They participated in an art project sponsored by the aircraft company Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB), initiated by Dr. Winfried Fischer, head of MBB s cultural department.
The computer-generated works of the project group were intended as a contribution to the cultural program of the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Each artist in the MBB Computer Graphics group developed their own computer art expression, using geometric patterns, or by implementing randomness with more or less algorithmic planning. From left to right: Frank Böttger: Nonlinear interpolation V, Roubaud/Weiss: Elements bounded..., Rolf Wölk: Element chains oriented stochastically, 1972.
Technology – Software
These computer graphics are works of algorithmic art, meaning they are based on programmed, coded algorithms: a machine-readable set of instructions. After being processed by a mainframe computer the graphics were drawn automatically by a pen plotter.
The plotter drawings then were reproduced in various printing techniques and print runs for exhibitions and the book »Computer Graphics« edited by Johann Willsberger in 1972.
The key element of these computer-generated graphics is the algorithm – a mathematical formulated instruction – that describes a graphic or a sequences of it as a process. (See »Algorithm« on Wikipedia.)
The art project group used algorithms to research two fields: geometric graphics, including shifting coordinates, rotation, and distortion, and graphics generated using random generators, primarily to create stochastic conditions and progressions based on random numbers.
The algorithms were programmed in FORTRAN IV to be machine-readable. The program was then transferred to punch cards and subsequently to magnetic tapes. To produce a series of different graphics generated by one algorithmic structure, the program had to be rewritten with a modified set of parameters.
Johann Willsberger describes the computer graphics as »graphic manifestations of mathematical formulae«. In his book »Computer Graphics« he writes: »All computer graphics could in principle be drawn by hand – even those where random values play a part. True, it would take a lot longer: but given the knowledge of interpolation procedures, say, or of the algorithms needed to calculate the (pseudo-)random values, the information is there. The structures can be worked out without the computer and drawn – with perhaps a little less precision – by hand.«
The artists created various algorithms that were used to generate diverse graphic series during their different runtime phases. From left to right: Frank Böttger: Nonlinear interpolation III, Roubaud/Weiss: Explosion of ordered structures I, Rolf Wölk: Element chains oriented stochastically V, 1972.
Technology – Hardware
The technical equipment MBB provided was basically a mainframe computer, an IBM 360 Model 50 which calculated and generated the graphics, and a Kongsberg Kingmatic drawing machine.
The Kingmatic, a 2 x 6 meter flatbed plotter, was the largest computerized drawing machine of its time in Europe. It was able to produce high-precision pen plots and scored foil. Only a few of these plotters were built for the construction departments of industrial companies, such as the airplane manufacturer MBB.
There was no computer monitor that could be used to preview the graphics before they were drawn; the entire process was experimental. When a graphics program was fed to the drawing machine, especially those using random generators, the visual result came as a bit of a surprise.
To create the graphics according to the design intention of the artists the algorithm had to be widely preconceived. If the visual result was unsatisfactory, the program was rewritten using different parameters.
Frank Böttger at the Kongsberg Kingmatic.
Technology – Printing
The Kongsberg Kingmatic plotter drawings were made on transparent paper. These transparencies were then used as masters for graphic prints and had to be reproduced photographically before being printed using different techniques.
That is why the graphics generated by the computer artist of MBB Computer Graphics can be found in various printing techniques.
The different editions of graphic prints – the book, the serigraph editions, as offset fine art prints and the selection for the exhibitions for the cultural program of the Munich Olympics – were compiled by Dr. Winfried Fischer and Johann Willsberger.
The Computer Artists
The members of the MBB Computer Graphics were Frank Böttger, Sylvia Roubaud / Gerold Weiss, Aron Warszawski, and Rolf Wölk.
This virtual exhibition originally included three additional sections showcasing the individual works of the three group members I had contacted prior to the launch. Today, each artist is briefly introduced alongside a serigraph. The motifs of these prints were each taken from a series of computer graphics generated with one program:
Sylvia Roubaud / Gerold Weiss
Sylvia Roubaud was the only trained artist in the project group. She had studied painting at the Munich College of Fine Arts under Guenter Fruhtrunk.
At her side she had the mathematician Gerold Weiss as technical assistant.
Roubaud developed the designs by creating sketches that Weiss transformed into algorithms and programs. Roubaud also worked on some of the master plots by manipulating the automatic drawing process.
The series »Explosion of ordered structures« uses algorithms including random numbers to break up orders and transform them in a pseudo-chaotic way.
Sylvia Roubaud / Gerold Weiss: »Explosion of ordered structures«, 1972, and » «, 1972, and » «, 1972.
Frank Böttger
Böttger, a trained electrician and engineer, was fascinated by computer graphics. Even though, Böttger, like most members of the MBB Computer Graphics, had no opportunity for further artistic work with a mainframe computer after the project ended in 1972.
His »Square formations« is based on a step-by-step movement of square formations. Compressions and omissions within the process generate various surfaces.
Frank Böttger: and » «, 1972, and » «, 1972, and »Square formations«, 1972.
Rolf Wölk
The algorithmic graphics created by Rolf Wölk explore the aesthetics of coincidence. As Herbert W. Franke wrote in »Computer-Grafik Galerie« the perceptibility of the algorithm, the generative process, in the graphic is important to Wölk.
Stochastic processes are the topic of many of his algorithmic works. The graphically manifested algorithms display the aesthetics of coincidence in a well planned and at the same time random way, which goes far beyond random experiments.
Rolf Wölk, who has a Ph.D. in abstract mathematics, had already created experimental computer graphics before the MBB art project: Besides generating own works, Wölk also had technically assisted his friend Gerhard von Graevenitz, when the renowned concrete and kinetic artist started his computer-based work phase in late 1970.
After the art group dissolved in 1972, Rolf Wölk continued working on Computer Art sporadically.
Rolf Wölk: »Stochastic lines subjected to constraints«, 1972, and » «, 1972.
Aron Warszawski
Little did I find out about this group member, who had left the MBB Computer Graphics shortly after the art project ended. He had been collaborating with Frank Böttger on several computer graphics.
Aron Warszawski: » «, 1972 and Aron Warszawski and Frank Böttger »Families of circles«, 1972
Availability
Several serigraphs and ephemera by the MBB Computer Graphics are available.
Prices on request
This exhibit presents an edited version of the virtual exhibition launched in 2012.
The copyrights of the artworks and graphics are with the artists:
Frank Böttger, Rolf Wölk, Aron Warszawski,
and for the works of Sylvia Roubaud: © VG Bild-Kunst for Sylvia Roubaud
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