P-180/D II

Name: Ragnar Digital, LLC
Price range: $

Manfred Mohr

1975

Plotter Drawing

Highlights

Description

Manfred Mohr is one of the best-known, and longest-serving, computer artists. His explorations with algorithms and plotters started in 1970.

In his early works he explored a variety of shapes, forms, and symbols using a computer to manipulate them. But in 1973, with his Cubic Limit series, he turned his focus to the cube, creating a series of works that explored, in-depth, the 12 lines that make up the shape.

Here, in this exemplary piece P-180/D II (1975) from the Cubic Limit series, we see the very beginnings of Mohr’s transition to a lifetime of the cube. We see him (and the algorithm) playing with the most basic, foundational question: How many of the 12 lines in a cube can you remove … and still have it be recognizable as a cube? And we see Mohr’s algorithm behind the drawing, with its random changes, creating a rhythm in the grid.

Mohr’s focus on the cube remains today. With over 40 years of exploration and variations of what a cube (and eventually the 4d hypercube) can be, it’s become a lifetime of focus on a singular object.