Quantum Digital art season 1 artist interview: Herbert Franke
We had the pleasure to speak with Herbert one on one about his spectacular career as a scientist and artist
Known as a universal genius, Herbert W. Franke (b. 1927) is the forefather of computer art, co-founder of Ars Electronica, mastermind of the Metaverse, and science-fiction writer. He spent his entire career bridging the worlds of art and science.
The first pioneer of computer art releases a hand-curated selection of 100 1 of 1 NFTs from his iconic series ‘Math Art’. This is his first work ever minted on the blockchain. Made between 1980 and 1995 it reveals a universe of mathematics visualized through shapes and colors reminiscent of Pop Art.
We sat down with Herbert Franke to learn more about his vision and what brought him to create his collection “Math Art.” You can now find this inspiring collection on Opensea.
Quantum: Who are you and what do you do?
Herbert: I am a scientist and an artist – and I try to build bridges between these two worlds since seventy years of my work.
Quantum: Why do you do what you do? What is your why?
Herbert: When I started writing to earn money as a writer in the 50s, I had no idea about the nature of art. But already in the 40s as a student, I was fascinated by these questions: what is art, why are some scientific images so beautiful and what is the purpose of art in evolution? In the sixties, I began to approach this subject more deeply. I did it with the tools and methods, I had learned in physics. The physicist is searching for a system that enables him or her to form a rough fundamental model. Then you try to bring this model closer to reality. That was a radically different approach than traditional art theory or art history. For this model, I found perception as the center of every kind of art – music, visual art, literature or dance. Perception also makes possible to look at art from the artist`s side as well as from the recipient’s side. So I started researching about perception theory and information theory and found some satisfying results – at least for my person. We still are far away from a fully functional model of art, as many perception processes in the brain are not known enough. But these early results showed me, that making art always is an important task in society because it aids individuals in optimizing their perceptual processes. That paved my personal way as an artist ... and it is the long answer to your short question!
Quantum: Is there a piece that embodies the overall collection and can you share the story behind it?
Herbert: Before answering this question, I want to give some basic informations about the collection: Math Art is the name of a workgroup of different series. They are the result of experiments that I conducted together with the physicist and programmer Horst Helbig starting in 1980 who worked in an institute of the German Areospace Center DLR. The goal of the project was to explore mathematical methods, which, however, were not developed and used for scientific but for aesthetic purposes. The main goal of the project, which lasted a total of 15 years, was to investigate numerous mathematical disciplines in terms of their aesthetic dimension and to visualize complex mathematical relationships ranging from algebraic formulas and geometric representations to fractals and stochastic relationships. So there is not one piece to name, because the selection shows so different mathematics and each series has its own mathematical “style”. To name one: Fractals were very popular at that time, we – and my friend Horst Helbig - also experimented with this mathematics. But my goal was much broader. I wanted to show that each mathematic discipline has a typical aesthetic dimension. So, to answer your question: I think, the beauty of imaginary numbers was extremely surprising for me. I am not aware of any example where someone else tried to visualize these kind of mathematics before. So it was a step into unknown areas!
Quantum: What is one goal you want to achieve with your collection?
Herbert: To be open, there are two goals. One goal is to spread knowledge about the beauty of mathematics into a broader community - the second goal is, to pave the way for Susanne, my wife, to realize her dream to set up the “art meets science – foundation Herbert W. Franke” for which this drop will be the initial fundraising. The purpose of this foundation on one side is to make public my archives and art work, but it will also support exhibitions, research projects or symposia in the field of art and science in the context of my thoughts. So both goals are important!
Quantum: What are 3 random facts someone might not know about you?
Herbert: To begin with: As a theoretical physicist and cave explorer I published already in 1951 that you can use the method of radiocarbon dating to describe growth and age of stalagmites. Today this method is business as usual. Second: I was probably the first who detected, that the growth of a special type of cactus follows the mathematics of the so-called Fibonacci row, published in 1967. And third: I think, many people in the art scenario do not know that I wrote more than 20 science fiction novels.
Quantum: If you could talk to your younger self, as an artist, what advice would you give them?
Herbert: Stay on your track and be authentic, make art that you want to do and don't care about commerce and big money.
Quantum: Who are some of your favorite artists in the NFT space right now and why?
Herbert: To be honest, I do not want to answer this question. There are so many artists whom I found through my new activities on Twitter. I don’t want to choose because there are so many outstanding talents in the NFT space.
Quantum: Who have been your biggest artistic influences, and why?
Herbert: I saw myself on the “other side” making a new kind of art realized by electrons. Hope you understand what I want to express. But the general concepts and ideas of Bauhaus were very appealing to me, of course. If I had to name people that influenced me these were the art historian Franz Roh als well as scientists like the cyberneticists Karl Steinbuch and Helmar Frank or Abraham Moles and Max Bense, both researchers that applied information theory to art.
Quantum: What was the process of creating the artwork for this collection?
Herbert: Math Art shows the results of a series of experiments that lasted for many years. I created them together with the physicist and programmer Horst Helbig, as already mentioned before in an institute of the German Aerospace Center. The aim was to explore mathematical formulas and functions in terms of their visual aesthetic dimension. For the NFT drop, I selected 100 of these best-of images from the period 1980-1988. It was the selection for our book “Welt der Mathematik – Computergrafik zwischen Wissenschaft und Kunst” (“World of Mathematics – Computergraphics between Science and Art”), published in 1988.
Quantum: Precisely what is it you want to say with this collection, and how do you get your artwork to say that?
Herbert: As mentioned before, the point is to show the wonderful aesthetics of mathematical relationships. And to show that you can approach mathematics not only from the side of abstract formulas and functions, but also from their aesthetic dimension. How do I get it to say? Look at the images - there is nothing more to say.
Quantum: How did you first encounter NFTs and Cryptoart, and when did it click for you that there was a lot of potential here?
Herbert: I followed crypto art as a new tendency from the very beginning. I liked it because artists are using new technology. But I did not follow it closer. When Alfred Weidinger and Anika Maier visited us in preparation of the exhibition in Francisco Carolinum, I found two enthusiasts who passed over the fire to me. I have to mention that without the Francisco Carolinum and their support in digitizing the original 6 x 6 slides I would not have been able to make this drop. And without great Anika, I would not be a Twitter member and would not have been in touch with Rodolphe and Quantum. So I really appreciate what they did for me to bring me into your community. I am sure: We are just at the beginning of this evolving technology. There will be much more innovation to come in this field. It reminds me to the old times in the 60s, when we began making art with the first digital computers. The only, but very important difference: We worked mainly hidden in the back office of art. Now a big community as well as big money is involved, that means there is much more public attention to it.
Quantum Digital art season 1 artist interview: Herbert Franke
Herbert Franke is undoubtedly the #nftgoat forever! This is so beautiful and important to see the history of his art contribution come full stop. Thx to Anika for her contribution. Congrats Quantum & Herbert!