Willsberger, Johann (editor) and Frank Böttger, Sylvia Roubaud, Gerold Weiss, Aron Warszawski, Rolf Wölk (artists).

[INCUNABULUM OF EARLY AI ART – COMPUTER ART – POST-DIGITAL BOOK] Computer Graphics.

[Munich-Ottobrunn: Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm GmbH], 1972. Square quarto (34 × 34 cm). Original printed laminated boards; 160 pp. with over 130 full-page reproductions of computer graphics as well as some examples of applied technical graphics of aircraft development and road planning. With 10 separate color screen prints by Frank Böttger, Sylvia Roubaud, Gerold Weiss, Aron Warszawski, and Rolf Wölk. Film lamination on the binding joints with age-typical minor damage and wear; half title and last page (colophon) fox-stained; else good or better; the color serigraphs very good. Item #55370

First and only edition of an elaborately designed early publication on computer-generated art; here a copy from the part of the print run produced for IBM. The volume was not published in Max Bense's academic environment, but is the result of industrial, experimental research. On the occasion of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, the exhibition MBB Computer Graphics was shown on the premises of Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm GmbH. The exhibits were created by a team of mathematicians, engineers, and mechanical engineers from MBB's aircraft department, together with the painter and graphic artist Sylvia Roubaud, mainly in their spare time. Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm was one of the leading German aerospace and defense companies at the time and was later acquired by Daimler-Benz. One of the company's best-known projects was the development of the world's first passenger-carrying magnetic levitation train, which was presented to the public on a test track in Munich-Ottobrunn in 1971.

The development of programs to generate graphics presented itself here as basic research, as the step towards computer-aided technical drawing had already been taken. The speed and technical precision that engineers were able to take advantage of is particularly emphasized. According to the volume, working with the computer increasingly became “an almost perfect question-and-answer game when solving problems.” At the level of art and poetry, it was now possible to experiment with the generative possibilities of computing machines. The volume contains not only computer graphics, but also “machine-generated texts.” The publication reveals, for example, that it was already possible in 1972 “to produce exact translations from one language into another with the help of computers when the source texts are specialist texts. So far, the computer can only provide rough translations of literature; grammatically almost correct, but still semantically naive in the choice of words.” By using a random generator, the machine was able to “play freely with the words”, “whose meaning the computer cannot (yet) understand.”

Herbert W. Franke – one of the most important protagonists in the early days of the artistic use of computer technology – wrote an enthusiastic review after the publication of the book in the strictly peer-reviewed journal “Leonardo” (which deals primarily with the use of contemporary science and technology in art and music). This review also outlines the structure and intention of the book, so we quote extensively from it: "There has been no book on computer art published hitherto that illustrates the mathematical-aesthetic principles of computer-generated graphics as well as this one. The task was defined by the team members themselves, namely, to investigate the possibilities of visual expression of 21 mathematical principles, including superposition of curves, moire, random paths, grids composed of elements and pseudoperspective effects. Of special interest are 'Stochastic Lines with Constraints' and 'Cube Representations' by W61k, 'Rotations in Constant Steps' and 'Rotation Surfaces' by Böttger, 'Bundles of Circles' by Warszawski, and 'Random Super- position and Explosion of Lines' and 'Connection of Points by a Sequence of Circular Arcs' by Roubaud and Weiss. Several examples are shown of each ordering principle and a short description of each geometrical structure is given. The result is an impressive demonstration of mathematical principles that is not only interesting in itself for pedagogical reasons but that also provides food for thought on the relationship between mathematics and aesthetics. Furthermore, this book leaves no room for doubt but that computer graphics put effects of Op art in the shade. The collaboration of mathematicians, computer operators and artists has led to a remarkable document showing the artistic possibilities of advanced technology." (Leonardo, Vol. 6, No. 4, Autumn, 1973, pp. 374–375).

Price: €3,500.00

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