Kugel in der Kugel thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
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Kugel in der Kugel

Print
ca. 1970 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Georg Nees (born 1926, Nuremberg) is considered one of the founders of computer art and graphics. He was also one of the first people to exhibit his computer graphics, at the studio gallery of the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart in February 1965.

Nees studied mathematics and physics at the universities of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Stuttgart. He subsequently worked for Siemens as a software engineer, and was instrumental in their purchasing a 'Zuse Graphomat', a drawing machine operated by computer-generated punched tape. The machine was capable of creating geometric patterns and, although the programming language that Nees used (ALGOL) was designed specifically for scientific computers, Nees used it to create aesthetic images such as this one.

In 1969 he received his doctorate on the subject of Generative Computer Graphics under Max Bense, the German philosopher and writer.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleKugel in der Kugel (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Screenprint on paper, mounted on board
Brief description
Screenprint from a plotter drawing, 'Kugel in der Kugel', ca. 1970, by Georg Nees.
Physical description
Orange and black screenprint, mounted on board, from a plotter drawing. This print depicts line drawings of two globe- like forms, one inside the other.
Dimensions
  • Height: 75.2cm
  • Width: 68.7cm
Marks and inscriptions
'COMPUTERGRAFIK MIT SIEMENS-SYSTEM 4004' (Computer text in lower right side, referring to the digital computer used in the creation of this work.)
Credit line
Given by the Computer Arts Society, supported by System Simulation Ltd, London
Production
Attribution note: Software: ALGOL program.
Hardware: Siemens - digital computers 2002.
Output device: ZUSE-Graphomat Z64
Summary
Georg Nees (born 1926, Nuremberg) is considered one of the founders of computer art and graphics. He was also one of the first people to exhibit his computer graphics, at the studio gallery of the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart in February 1965.

Nees studied mathematics and physics at the universities of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Stuttgart. He subsequently worked for Siemens as a software engineer, and was instrumental in their purchasing a 'Zuse Graphomat', a drawing machine operated by computer-generated punched tape. The machine was capable of creating geometric patterns and, although the programming language that Nees used (ALGOL) was designed specifically for scientific computers, Nees used it to create aesthetic images such as this one.

In 1969 he received his doctorate on the subject of Generative Computer Graphics under Max Bense, the German philosopher and writer.
Bibliographic reference
Herzogenrath, Wulf and Nierhoff-Wielk, Barbara, eds. Ex-Machina - Frühe Computergrafik bis 1979. Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2007. 442 p., ill. ISBN 978-3-422-06689-2.
Other number
CAS/A/0051 - Previous owner's number
Collection
Accession number
E.63-2008

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Record createdApril 16, 2008
Record URL
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