This photograph is of a plotter drawing produced using a computer program, or algorithm, written by the artist Frieder Nake (born 1938, Germany). Nake was able to set the parameters of the program to dictate the horizontal and vertical framework of the drawing. By deliberately writing random variables into the process, Nake also allowed the computer to make certain choices within a given number of options. At this time, computers would have had no screen on which the image could be visualised and the artist would have generated the drawing using a pen plotter, an early output device. A plotter is a mechanical device that holds a pen or brush and is linked to a computer that controls its movements. The artist would not have been able to predict the appearance of the image until the plotter had finished drawing. From this one computer program, Nake could produce a large number of different drawing. The V&A holds a screenprint by Frieder Nake entitled 'Walk-throuugh-Raster Vancouver Version' (E.247-2008) from another drawing produced using the same code.

Nake studied mathematics at the Technical University, Stuttgart, and went on to receive his PhD in probability theory from the same institution in 1967. He is currently Professor of Interactive Computer Graphics at the University of Bremen