Walk Through Raster (7.3-1)

Name: Ragnar Digital, LLC
Price range: $

Frieder Nake

1968

Silkscreen

Description

Made using Nake’s Walk-through-Raster program written in Algol 60, this work maps a probabilistic sequence of signs across a gridded picture plane. A limited expressive repertoire—horizontal stroke, vertical stroke, and blank space—is deployed through transition probabilities that determine how each sign follows the previous one. The resulting chain is then “walked” through the raster cell by cell, producing a structured yet unpredictable visual field. In this example, the introduction of color—yellow and blue—adds perceptual contrast to the system’s logical clarity. The image reads as an unfolding process rather than a static composition, foregrounding Nake’s conception of the artwork as the visible trace of an algorithm’s operation.