Manfred Mohr, born June 8, 1938 in Pforzheim, Germany, is often considered a pioneer of Digital Art. Ever since first discovering the capabilities of computers to create art in 1960, Mohr has dedicated his life to the creation through computers. Currently living, working, and occasionally teaching in New York City, he creates art through mathematical algorithms, which are entered into a computer to be solved, step by step. Originally, limited by the computer’s processing power, he created works of randomly generated text and a few abstract shapes to make his art. He also created a few installations, out of wood or paper craft to make his work more corporeal and more visually appealing.
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- Bild 12/366, Tempera/Leinwand, 1966, 73cm x 92cm, Sammlung DaimlerChrysler AG, Stuttgart / Germany
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- Zeichnung A, Ink / paper, 1967, 75cm x 60cm (vacuum tubes)
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- Wooden sculpture built from random numbers, 1969
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- Room with a continuous random line on randomly generated walls Wall line drawing from 1970 program P-036 Cardboard construction, 60cm x 60cm x 12cm, 1971
Soon, however, computers became faster and faster, and he was able to do so much more. He could eventually replace the variables in his algorithms with lines from a shape, so that his algorithms cold be displayed in real time, as they were being solved by the computer.
I feel this is the most interesting part of his work. There is very little artistic liberty, other than the formulas he chooses for the computer to solve. Ultimately, it is the code, the computer itself making the art, for without it, all we would see are equations written on a page, numbers that have not reached their full potential.
Below is a link to Manfred Mohr’s website, and a link to a 5 minute excerpt interview, in which Mohr describes why he creates art this way, and how.
Eric Kramer 
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