Herbert W. Franke. Wanderer Between the Worlds

The ZKM | Media Museum presented a comprehensive exhibition in honor of the physicist, philosopher and pioneer of computer art and electronic aesthetics. The exhibition, continuing the ZKM series Philosophy and Art, throws light on the extent of Herbert W. Franke’s diverse influence in science and art. He is referred to as philosopher and writer of science fiction, as speleologist, symmetry and bionic research scientist, as physicist and mathematician, as well as art scholar and pioneer of computer and machine-generated art.
Herbert W. Franke’s interest in image-generating machines began early on. As one of the most important representatives of electronic aesthetics and computer art, he has exerted, and continues to exert influence on generations of artists. Towards the end of the 1940s, the co-founder of ars electronica began analyzing questions on the ways in which scientific image-generating systems and technical devices are connected with art and aesthetics. From the 1950s on, he began experimenting with oscillographs, by means of which he created his artistic Oscillogrammes (1956) and Electronic Graphics (1961/62) and later, his experimental film of several hours Rotations/Projections (1970/71), digitalized by the ZKM | Media Museum for the first presentation since 40 years.
The exhibition was curated by Bernhard Serexhe and Susanne Päch.