Drakula

1971/2023

20"x13.75"

Description

Herbert W. Franke’s “Drakula” series of 1970/71 emerged from—and for him exemplified—the artist’s “rational theory of art,” which contends that aesthetic creation and perception can be quantified using the mathematical discipline of information theory.

The name of the series is composed from the first, third, and seventh syllables of the computer program created to generate the works, Drachenkurven, überlagert (Dragon curves, superimposed). First discovered by NASA physicists in 1966, the dragon curve is now a well-known type of fractal curve.

Franke was not yet coding himself so he collaborated on the program with computer scientist Josef Vordermaier. The graphics, consisting of whole or fragmented dragon curves in various configurations, were generated on the Siemens 4004 computer and printed with a plotter.

In some cases Franke created multi-color drawings or lithographs, although this example (one in an edition of 200 historical prints) retains a monochromatic simplicity.

Komet Herbert W. Franke1985 Print

Kleeblatt (Dibias) by Herbert W. Franke, 1985

Kleeblatt (Dibias) Herbert W. Franke1985 Print

Drakula 6 by Herbert W. Franke, 1970-1971

Drakula 6 Herbert W. Franke1970-1971 Plotter

Munich Round Up (MRU) No. 119 by Herbert W. Franke, 1971

Munich Round Up (MRU) No. 119 Herbert W. Franke1971 Ephemera

Tanz der Elektronen by Herbert W. Franke, 1970

Tanz der Elektronen Herbert W. Franke1970 Print

KAES Herbert W. Franke1970 Print

Oszillgrammme by Herbert W. Franke, 1970

Oszillgrammme Herbert W. Franke1970 Print

Fraktal Herbert W. Franke1985 Print