Komet

Name: Ragnar Digital, LLC
Price range: $

Herbert W. Franke

1985

17.5"x17.5"

Description

These three prints are from Herbert W. Franke’s well-known series “Math Art” (1980–95), made in collaboration with programmers at the German Aerospace Center near Munich. Franke’s objective was to explore the possibilities of mathematical visualization. As the artist, who had a background in theoretical physics, explained: “Art is always about mathematics. Every image can be described mathematically.”

At first Franke worked with Dr. Ernst E. Triendl, who headed up the aerospace center’s Institute for Communications Engineering and developed an image processing system called Dibias. The software, intended for use on optical data from satellite photography, appealed to the artist because it could immediately show the results on a color TV screen. Soon Franke was visiting the center to use the Dibias system every other Saturday. Triendl wasn’t able to spare the time so Franke began working with another employee called Horst Helbig, who became his collaborator for fifteen years.

The resulting images—printed in color on paper—provide aesthetic representations of a whole range of mathematical concepts: Fourier transformations, algebra, stochastic relationships, complex and irrational numbers, and so on. With their bright shapes and patterns, they have sometimes been compared to works of Pop art from the period. In 2022, 100 examples from the series were released as NFTs to commemorate Franke’s 95th birthday; the drop sold out in 30 seconds.