Fromund  Kloppe

Fromund Kloppe is a German engineer in the design department of Opel in Rüsselsheim, where in the early 1970s he introduced one of the first numerically controlled computer drawing systems to automotive design. As head of the numerically controlled systems unit, he adapted the Orthomat Graphic System/5000 to digitize clay car models and generate full-scale technical drawings, a process that increased productivity and precision while also giving him the opportunity to explore computer graphics as an artistic medium. Working with a 6.6-meter computer-controlled drawing machine, normally used for automobile plans, he produced works whose fine line quality surpassed that of faster plotters and gave them a distinctive visual presence. His drawing Manta entered the art collection of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC) in Munich, and two of his original computer graphics were presented as gifts to German Chancellor Willy Brandt, while additional prints circulated within Opel as representation pieces. Kloppe described his graphics as still close to the realistic, yet their combination of industrial precision and abstract form drew attention beyond the automotive field, even leading companies and students to inquire about reusing his designs or acquiring the program code itself. His experiments were documented in Kultur & Technik and Computer Art: Faszination, placing him among the first German engineers to cross into computer art.