Georg Nees

Georg Nees was born in 1926 in Nuremberg, Germany and became one of the first artists to use computers to make art. He studied mathematics and physics in Erlangen before later turning to philosophy in Stuttgart, where he completed a PhD on generative computer graphics in 1969. Nees was deeply curious from a young age and that sense of wonder carried through his life. He worked as a mathematician at Siemens, where he began programming in the late 1950s and experimented with plotter-based graphics. His path took a pivotal turn during a chance meeting on a train, when he showed some of his early computer-generated images to Helmar Frank, who later introduced him to Max Bense, an encounter that led directly to Nees’s first exhibition in 1965. Recognized as one of the key figures who helped define computer art as a field, he was among the first to exhibit algorithmically generated images publicly. He passed away in January 2016.

Georg Nees approached computer art with a clear vision of machine autonomy, aiming to create works where the machine functions independently rather than simply mimicking human creativity. Unlike many early artists who hesitated, he embraced the potential of computers to explore new creative possibilities and sought to model human thought processes through programming. He recognized early on that computers are fundamentally different from humans, so rather than trying to replicate human methods, he leveraged the unique capabilities of machines, like handling complex calculations, to develop innovative techniques such as autonomous colorization. Nees also understood the initial resistance from the art world, where computer-generated art challenged long-held beliefs about individuality and authorship. Ultimately, he viewed computer art as a distinct, new form of artistic expression that emerges from the interaction between a programmer’s intent and a machine’s processes.

This philosophy evolved into a practice that fused structure with unpredictability. His work stands out for combining strict algorithmic rules with elements of randomness, programmed primarily in ALGOL, introducing a dynamic tension between order and chaos. Nees’s 1968 PhD thesis on Generative Computer Graphics laid the theoretical foundation for the field, framing computer art as a formal, rule-based discipline. Beyond drawing, he expanded his practice in the mid-1960s by programming milling machines to produce computer-generated sculptures, pushing beyond digital imagery into physical form. His iconic work Schotter (1968) exemplifies this transformation from order to disorder through randomness and remains one of the most cited early computer artworks. Nees also bridged art and architecture, collaborating with Ludwig Rase on designs for industrial fairs that merged technical precision with creative expression. In the 1980s, he used Lisp to generate graphics in response to philosophical and mythological prompts, further questioning conventional ideas of artistic authorship. After retiring in 1985, he focused on the semiotics and aesthetics of media and machines, publishing extensively on how technology shapes perception and creativity. 

Nees’s work has been featured in landmark exhibitions that helped define the field of computer art, including Cybernetic Serendipity at the ICA in London in 1968, Computer und visuelle Forschung in Zagreb, and Arte de Sistemas at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Buenos Aires. His contributions are part of major institutional collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, ZKM in Karlsruhe, Kunsthalle Bremen, and Museum Abteiberg in Mönchengladbach, which holds works from the Sammlung Etzold.