CENTURY-XXX-METAFRANKE #547
CENTURY-XXX-META is a large fx(hash) project by Casey Reas consisting of six individual 1,000 edition series paying homage to some of the most influential pioneering figures of computer and generative art. Each series draws aesthetic inspirations from the chosen pioneers iconic work. CENTURY-XXX-METAFRANKE pays homage to pioneering artist, Herbert W. Franke, while drawing aesthetic inspirations from his MONDRIAN software originally developed for Texas Instruments TI-99/4. When the piece is first loaded, 100,000 frames are instantly rendered and then endlessly transformed to create an infinite animation. Additionally, the series helped raise funds for ZKM Karlsruhe’s preservation of Herbert W. Franke’s 1,800 manuscripts.
1 of 5 in CENTURY-XXX, Series 2
Edition of 1000
Tribute to Herbert W. Franke
“In Honor of the Dinosaur of Computer Art”
Herbert W. Franke, a pioneer of computer art, passed away on July 16, 2022 at the age of 95. CENTURY-XXX-METAFRANKE is an homage to Franke’s MONDRIAN software developed for the Texas Instruments TI 99/4 home computer in 1979, and it’s a fundraiser to digitize his archive:
“Our goal is to raise 20,000 Euro so that ZKM Karlsruhe can digitize Herbert W. Franke’s 1,800 manuscripts and make them publicly available. If we raise more money, it will be donated to the Rütgers Foundation which supports children and young adults in Africa so that they can get access to and work with technology.”
Each frame, a single “pixel” is added to the CENTURY-XXX-METAFRANKE image. When the software first loads, 100,000 frames are run in the background to start things off. Keep it running for hours or days to see it transform entirely — it’s an “infinite animation.”