Pioneer Work: Frieder Nake
This page is dedicated to the computer art pioneer Frieder Nake.
In the 1960s Frieder Nake (*1938) studied mathematics in Stuttgart, Germany, and became part of the experimental circle around Max Bense,
who had formed the theoretical fundament for early computer art with his information aesthetics.
Frieder Nake held his first exhibition together with Georg Nees in November 1965 at the Wendelin Niedlich Gallery, Stuttgart.
Check out The Blog and the available page for available Nake works.
Pioneer Work #1 25/2/65 No.13 and No.14 (Rectangular Random Polygon)
This early machine drawings »25/2/65« were generated on 25th of February 1965 as motifs No. 13 and No. 14 in a series of motifs.
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Frieder Nake:
25/2/65 No. 13 (Rectangular Random Polygon)
machine drawing
Edition: 80
generated: 1965
main frame: ER56 - Standard Elektrik Lorenz
drawing machine: Zuse-Graphomat 64
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Both motifs were used for editions using different colors in the edition of No. 13 and also different line thicknesses for the edition of No. 14.
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Frieder Nake:
25/2/65 No. 14 (Rectangular Random Polygon)
machine drawing, 31 x 22,5 cm
Edition: 150
According to Nake´s program the ER56 produced an edition of unique plots: every drawing in this edition is different.
generated: 1965
main frame: ER56 - Standard Elektrik Lorenz
drawing machine: Zuse-Graphomat 64
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Pioneer Work #2 Hommage à Paul Klee
»Hommage à Paul Klee« is probably Nake´s most prominent work.
Inspired by Paul Klee´s painting »High Roads and Byroads«
(Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany, see Wikipedia),
Nake wrote an image program with COMPART ER56 for the mainframe Standard Elektrik Lorenz ER56.
The drawings were made by the ZUSE-Graphomat Z64.
More on »Hommage à Paul Klee« on the V&A website and
in the compart database at dada.compart-bremen.de
A variation of »Hommage à Paul Klee« is next:
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Frieder Nake:
Hommage à Paul Klee (Variation)
plotter drawing: ZUSE Graphomat Z 64, 1966
black ink on white paper, 28 x 20 cm
edition: 100
numbered and signed on reverse side
generated: 1965/1966
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Pioneer Work #3 Walk-Through-Raster
There are several variations of
the motif »Walk-Through-Raster« taken from Nake´s software programed in 1966 (see: Dreher).
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Frieder Nake:
Walk-Through-Raster, 1967
machine drawing, 50 x 50 cm
unique drawing, 7.3.3 series
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The Precise Pleasures
The title of the series »The Precise Pleasures «, in German »Die präzisen Vergnügen«, is a term coined by Max Bense.
The precise pleasures are a synonym for the mathematician´s, philosopher´s or computer artist´s joy of exactly describing or defining an art work by an algorithm.
This Bense-quote is also the title of his book released in 1964 with texts of »artificial poetry« which unite sensuality and artificiality.
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»Die präzisen Vergnügen«, published 1964 by Limes Nova.
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»Pioneer Work: Frieder Nake« presents the four computer graphics of »The Precise Pleasures«, a folder edition printed in 2005 and published under the German title »Die präzisen Vergnügen«.
The motifs are based on early computer graphics Frieder Nake created in 1965 and 1969.
In each sheet four screenshots have been added to the main motif. These screenshots were taken from projections of interactive installations,
which were generated by transferring Nakes graphics into interactively changeable virtual depictions.
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from the »The Precise Pleasures« portfolio:
Frieder Nake:
Rectangular Hatchings / Interrelations
by Frieder Nake with Lutz Dickmann and Hendrik Poppe
digital print after plotter drawing and screenshot, 2005
Idea by Frieder Nake, program in cooperation with Lutz Dickmann and Hendrik Poppe
Generated: Rectangular Hatchings, 1965 / Interrelations, 2004
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from the »The Precise Pleasures« portfolio:
Frieder Nake: Family of Lines / Expansion
by Frieder Nake with Philipp Kehl
digital print after plotter drawing and screenshot, 2005
Idea by Frieder Nake, program in cooperation mit Philipp Kehl
Generated: Family of Lines, 1965 / Expansion, 2004
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»Hommage à Paul Klee« Frieder Nake, 1965 and it´s interactive depiction »Tension« by Frieder Nake with Susanne Grabowski and Matthias Krauß.
from the »The Precise Pleasures« portfolio:
Frieder Nake: Hommage à Paul Klee / Tension
by Frieder Nake with Susanne Grabowski and Matthias Krauß
Digital print after plotter drawing and screenshot, 2005
Idea by Frieder Nake, program in cooperation with Susanne Grabowski and Matthias Krauß
Generated: Hommage à Paul Klee, 1965 / Tension, 2004
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from the »The Precise Pleasures« portfolio:
Frieder Nake:
Chaos Gestalt Structure / Incompletion
by Frieder Nake with Christoph Brachmann and Romana Walter
digital print after plotter drawing and screenshot, 2005
Idea by Frieder Nake, program in cooperation with Christoph Brachmann and Romana Walter
Generated: Chaos Gestalt Structure, 1969 / Incompletion, 2004
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Artist´s Profile
Frieder Nake
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, 1938, studied mathematics in Stuttgart. First experimental works with a main frame in 1963, influenced by
Max Bense. 1967 Ph.D. doctoral thesis on stochastic equation systems.
Nake is a pioneer of computer art, his works were displayed in many exhibitions, e.g. at the
Cybernetic Serendipity exhibition in London, 1968.
Since 2005 Frieder Nake is a professor at the »Digital Media« section of the art college (Hochschule für Künste) in Bremen, Germany. Lives in Bremen.
Listen to Frieder Nake at the Eyeo Festival: Frieder Nake
YouTube-Links: An interview with Frieder Nake and other pioneers and
his lecture Frieder Nake - Do calculating machines like drawing? And if so, why? Code Mesh LDN 18.
Many of Nake´s »pioneer works« have been on display in major computer art exhibitions, e.g. in:
»Cybernetic Serendipity« London, 1968.
»Venice Biennale«, Venice, Italy, 1970
»Ex Machina – Frühe Computergrafik bis 1979« Kunsthalle Bremen, 2007
»bit international« ZKM Karlsruhe, 2008-2009
»Die präzisen Vergnügen« Kunsthalle Bremen, 2004-2005 and ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany, 2005
»Programmierte Kunst. Frühe Computergraphik.« Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany, 2018
»Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers« Victoria and Albert Museum, London, GB, 2018
and e.g. publicized in:
Ästhetik als Informationsverarbeitung. Frieder Nake (1974)
Computer-Grafik Galerie. Herbert W. Franke (1984)
Ex Machina – Frühe Computergrafik bis 1979. Hrsg. Wulf Herzogenrath und Barbara Nierhoff-Wielk (2007)
A Little-Known Story about a Movement, a Magazine and the Computer´s Arrival in Art: New Tendencies and Bit International. Hrsg. Margit Rosen (2011)
Computergraphik - Computerkunst. Herbert W. Franke (1985)
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