Pioneer Work: Frieder Nake

Two remarkable works from early drawing machine series.

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virtual exhibit
Spring 2014 / May 2026
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Among the earliest virtual exhibitions on this website were the exhibits on pioneers of Computer Art.
This is a shortened version of the »pioneer« exhibit dedicated to Frieder Nake (1938), featuring two very special works of the artist:

25/2/65 No.14

The basic motif of this early machine drawing »25/2/65« (below left) was generated on February 25, 1965 as number 14 from a series of programs. The specific program used here contains the algorithm for a »Rectangular Random Polygon« (Achsenparalleler Polygonzug).
The artist's intention was to generate a series of similar yet unique motifs from programs such as »25/2/65 no 14«. The random number generator integrated into the program made it possible to—theoretically—create a very large number of variations of a particular style or motif with the ER56 (Standard Elektrik Lorenz) mainframe—as unique drawings. In fact, 150 unique drawings were realized with the Zuse-Graphomat 64, as an edition.

below left
Frieder Nake: 25/2/65 No. 14 Achsenparalleler Polygonzug (Rectangular Random Polygon)
machine drawing, black, blue and red on white paper, 22.5 x 26.5
Edition: 150 unique drawings
Program: 25/2/65 No.14
mainframe: ER56 - Standard Elektrik Lorenz
drawing machine: Zuse-Graphomat 64

above right
Frieder Nake: Hommage à Paul Klee (Variation for Wendelin Niedlich), 1966
plotter drawing: ZUSE Graphomat Z 64
black ink on white paper, 28 x 20 cm
edition: 100
program: 1965

Hommage à Paul Klee – a Variation

»Hommage à Paul Klee« or »13/9/65 Nr. 2« is probably Nake s most prominent work. Inspired by Paul Klee´s painting »Highway and Byways« (see this on Wikipedia.), Nake wrote an image program for the mainframe Standard Elektrik Lorenz ER56.

A lesser known variation from the »Hommage à Paul Klee« program is the variation for Wendelin Niedlich (above right), Nake produced 100 machine drawings of this motif with the Z64 as an edition for the book and art dealer in Stuttgart, Germany.
Although all the drawings feature the same motif, each one differs slightly from the others due to individual variations in the machine execution.
The question of the uniqueness of each individual drawing may be debatable, however, there are good arguments for considering every drawing in the edition as unique.

Artist's Profile

Frieder Nake (born 1938)
In the 1960s Frieder Nake studied mathematics in Stuttgart, Germany, and became part of the experimental circle around Max Bense, who had formed the theoretical fundament for early computer art with his information aesthetics.
Frieder Nake held his first exhibition together with Georg Nees in November 1965 at the Wendelin Niedlich Gallery, Stuttgart. He participated in the groundbreaking computer art exhibitions: Cybernetic Serendipity, London 1968, the Tendencies 4 Colloquium Computers and visual research, Zagreb 1968, and Tendencies 4, Zagreb 1969.
From 2005 to 2024 Frieder Nake was a professor at the Digital Media section of the art college (Hochschule für Künste) in Bremen, Germany. He is an active digital artist and lives in Bremen.