Historical Pers p e c t i v e The Art of Computing as Frieder Nake’s Response to the Problem of “Mechanized Mental Labor” The Early Debates Revisited

J o anna Wal e w s k a

This paper discusses the process of recognition of early computer art then that he realized that as a “political animal” he should not as iconic but as a purely intellectual or conceptual form as it took no longer support the capitalist market and the use of killing TRACT place during a debate on the pages of PAGE, initiated by Frieder machines, as he used to describe computers [3]. Feeling a BS Nake’s “Statement for PAGE” and his seminal text “There Should Be No A Computer Art.” dissonance between his roles as artist and as political person, he decided to give up computer art to become a categorical voice against “art which amounts to indirect support of the When asked about the political dimension of his art, Frieder bourgeoisie and capitalist production” [4]. Nake said that although artists gathered around Max Bense The Debate in PAGE belonged to a generation born before World War II, their In the May 1970 issue of PAGE, the bulletin of the Computer main concerns were purely aesthetic [1]. Although this first Arts Society (CAS), Nake published the following declara- generation of German computer artists had an opportunity tion: to refer to the German experience of Nazism, they consid- ered their art as purely mathematical, organized, rational and I stop exhibiting for the present . . . [as] it looks as if the cap- completely detached from the social or political dilemmas italist art market is trying to get hold of computer produc- of their times [2]. tions. This would mean a distraction from visual research. Nake himself felt that the historical context in which he Exhibiting in universities etc., is different as it helps to and his colleagues were immersed raised an emotional re- communicate; communication is essential to research [5]. sponse neither in him nor in them; however, by the late 1960s The artist followed this rather laconic statement with an ar- his attitude had changed dramatically. As a young man he ticle titled “There Should Be No Computer Art,” written a witnessed the student movement at Berkeley and protests few months earlier for the occasion of the International Col- against the war in Vietnam, and it was then that he took an loquium on Art and Computers in Zagreb [6]. In the face of active part in the protests in against the aggres- such radically outlined positions, already expressed in the sion of the Soviet Union. Nake also joined student protests title of his short text, one needs to ask: In what sense should against changes to the constitution of the Federal Republic computer art not exist? Of many possible interpretations, at of . The so-called German Emergency Acts (Not- least two of them appear worth further consideration. First, standsgesetze), passed on 30 May 1968, allowed the govern- we can assume that Nake was referring not to the phenom- ment to limit civil rights in emergency situations. In 1968 enon as such but to the actual name “computer art.” On the Nake accepted Leslie Mezei’s invitation to Toronto, where he one hand, given that computer art has developed on the mar- had the opportunity to experiment with computer graphics gins of the art world, its name could have been perceived as and participate in several demonstrations against the pro- too stigmatizing, while on the other hand, it did not fully longation of the war in Vietnam. Paradoxically, his departure express the essence of the phenomenon. Second, a more from Germany coincided with the introduction of a state radical interpretation of Nake’s argument would be to say of emergency in Canada, due to the terrorist attacks of the that in general one should not create art using a computer Quebec Liberation Front on an information center. It was or, in a weaker version, to claim that one may use a computer but only in a completely different manner than before. In my opinion, both the construction of Nake’s arguments and Joanna Walewska (media historian), Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru´n, Fosa Staromiejska 3, 87-100 Torun, Poland. Email: [email protected]. the extremely rhetorical language of his text make all these See www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/leon/52/1 for supplemental files associated interpretations equally plausible, at least at first glance. with this issue. Nake begins by saying that at this very early stage of the

54 LEONARDO, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 54–59, 2019 doi:10.1162/LEON_a_01345 ©2019 ISAST

Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/leon_a_01345 by guest on 29 September 2021 development of computer technology, it was clear that it that the scrutiny of computer procedures is the only way of had great potential for use in the field of art. The Cybernetic producing artworks complex enough to satisfy one’s sensibil- Serendipity exhibition (1968) launched a heated debate on ity. Nake’s article from 1972, titled “Technocratic Dadaists,” the consequences of the introduction of computers into the appears to be the turning point of the discussion, the char- art world; however, the central question of this discussion, acter of which had unexpectedly changed from an exchange whether computer art is art, was, according to Nake, ill posed. of opinions on the purely aesthetic and artistic values into a He claimed that although the temperature of these discus- debate on the political dimension of art [11]. What is surpris- sions had not dropped, their quality left much to be desired, ing is the fact that both the aesthetic and political dimensions as the debaters very often exhibited signs of ignorance and are interwoven at the point where Nake explains that what prejudice toward computer art and this made the progress he meant in his first article was not that one should not use in understanding the phenomenon very slow. computers in the field of art but quite the opposite; however, he emphasizes that “one should not use them to create art.” Art magazines are full of articles, exhibitions are held ev- Nake, aware of the gravity of his words, added that his erywhere, seminars are offered by art schools. . . . Computer intention was not to erase completely the concept of art but scientists are flattered by the little public success they make rather to draw attention to the impossibility of its existence and amused by the interest artists develop [7]. in its present form. Nake protested the use of the new me- Nake wrote that although he had been engaged in the de- dium to create conventional artworks suitable for hanging in velopment of computer art almost from the beginning, he a gallery or museum. According to Nake, computers should easily came to the conclusion that the use of computers made be used as a tool for the liquidation of art; he described the only a very small contribution to the development of art, artists who used them as if nothing had changed as “techno- since the repertoire of aesthetic functions of computer art- cratic dadaists.” work did not differ dramatically from traditional techniques. He concluded by saying that computer art had a significant Therefore, the use of computers did not make sense, since role to play, as he was convinced that computers had the po- artists were able to achieve the same or even better effects tential to allow one to expand the repertoire of artistic means by using a chisel or a ruler and pencil. It seems that the CAS used in contemporary art. However, he was inclined to see members, whose follow-up articles appeared in subsequent their role in quite a different way, most of all as a tool of social issues of PAGE, paid particular attention to the statement on change. Nake claimed that if artists were unable to use the the arrested development of aesthetic functions. However, art as a tool for social change, the result would have a merely in my opinion the whole discussion was based on a misun- quantitative not qualitative character. He wrote: derstanding of Nake’s original intuition. Although it is hard Many computer artists we can call technocratic dadaists. to believe that the artist decided to join the chorus of art They deny and replace the traditional ways of artistic pro- critics who were often outraged by the mere existence of art duction and see this as a revolutionary step; but, in effect, made by means of computer, the leading computer artists, they only create a new artistic style—nothing more [12]. who perceived Nake as an author of algorithmic, geometric works referring to Paul Klee, considered his statement an This response was followed by a series of articles in subse- insult without taking into account the primary political di- quent issues of PAGE. One such text, a more polemical essay mension of his so-called manifesto. A number of replies to by Gary William Smith titled “Computer Art and Real Art,” his article appeared in the next issue of the bulletin, in which requires particular attention. In it, Smith made an argument John Lansdown published his article “Computer Graphics # that some of Nake’s most notable works, for instance Hom- [does not equal] Computer Art” [8]. In it, Lansdown tried mage à Paul Klee, were merely pictorial and therefore could to prove that while Nake’s statement was true in relation to easily be executed manually [13]. computer graphics, one could not evaluate all branches of computer art in such a way. According to Lansdown, com- Against Technocratic Dadaists puter art should be understood more as a process than as a It seems that this heated discussion in the pages of the PAGE material object, since only the former approach allows one bulletin was inconclusive. When I initially stumbled upon to discover its true potential [9]. He thought that at least this body of texts, my impression was that Nake’s position three artists should be appreciated, as their artworks could was completely misunderstood, as his statement was not rec- not have been made without a computer: John Lifton, George ognized as political. However, it is no coincidence that Nake Mallen and Edward Ihnatowicz. presented his text “There Should Be No Computer Art” at the In Issue 21 of PAGE (March 1972), the discussion continued New Tendency 4 colloquy, because the artists who gathered in John Whitney’s article “Reflections on Art” and Nake’s in Zagreb were already convinced of the social mission of rejoinder to Lansdown [10]. Whitney seems to follow the computer art, which idea Nake wanted to inculcate within logic of arguments that Lansdown formulated and describes CAS. They believed that computers were tools for conducting the whole spectrum of possibilities achievable in animation research on visuality and perception, which eventually would through the use of computers. Among other things, he em- lead to social change and reform and, in consequence, to the phasized the role of the computer as a tool for orchestrating transformation of the human environment. the parameters of moving images, which are a combination In addition to visual research, one of the dominant topics of both computer-generated images and sounds, and claims of the symposium was the issue of the responsible use of tech-

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Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/leon_a_01345 by guest on 29 September 2021 nology, although this emerged during the 1968 “Computers chose to seek only those scientists who would represent and and Visual Research” colloquy rather spontaneously and un- identify themselves with left-wing social values. In reference expectedly. The impulse for the taking up of this topic was to the Cybernetic Serendipity exhibition, according to him the fact that the student revolt had reached Yugoslavia. Riots focused primarily on individualistic artistic explorations of broke out at the University of Belgrade in early June, and at new media, Nake suggested that the future exhibition in Za- the beginning of August they moved to three other major greb be devoted to the social dimension of technology and university cities: Zagreb, and Sarajevo [14]. Al- the threats posed by industrial automation. Nake thus took though the symposium participants did not refer directly to into account the arguments raised by Norbert Wiener, who the events in Zagreb, or to the political situation in the West, in a 1960 article argued that automation would have disas- echoes of these events were discernible in their speeches. trous consequences for the living and working conditions of For instance, Alberto Biasi undertook an analysis of the the working class, incomparable even to those caused by the current activities and demands of the New Tendencies in economic crisis of the 1930s [17]. Moreover, as early as 1946, the new socioeconomic context, showing that they had been Wiener, in his seminal book Cybernetics: or Control and Com- pushed through by NT’s Yugoslavian founders, whose living munication in the Animal and the Machine, considered the conditions under the socialist economic system were clearly computer as a machine that could substitute for the human different from those that prevailed in capitalist countries. brain in the future and consequently diminish its value [18]. This Italian artist argued that Western artists were subject Since around 1973, Nake also had considered the computer as to the laws of the market even when they tried to act in op- “the machine to mechanize mental labor” [19], a position that position to it. Biasi built his argument by showing an in- led him to the conclusion that computer artwork becomes consistency: On the one hand, the organizers of tendencija 3 alienated from its author and, as a result of this process, a and the artists gathered in Zagreb were convinced that they product for sale. should keep their distance from the market and perceive the Information technology in general, and computer tech- process of art creation as a purely scientific endeavor, but on nology in particular, emerged as a necessary step of the the other hand, no one seemed to pay any attention to the development of the productive forces when mental labor increasing rapprochement between artists and scientific in- had to be subsumed under capital in real, not only formal stitutions, the functioning of which depended on economic terms. On ethical, moral, and political grounds, I felt, it was and political conditions. He also underlined the fact that necessary to stand up against the power structure and the while Western artists should follow the scientific standards ruling class, and to raise my voice against the use of their that the creators of New Tendencies imposed on the process machines. I turned to a principled critique, from a Marx- of art creation, all artists working in the West should take ist position, of the computer as a means of production and into account the fact that the technology did not necessar- suppression [20]. ily serve the good of man, and social change would only be ushered in by social revolution. In his speech, in which he The decision to abandon computer art was not an easy call, made reference to Norbert Wiener, Biasi also recognized the as almost four decades later Nake referred to this moment as process of automation as a risk factor threatening the welfare a “radical decision against his own success” for the sake of “a of the working class [15]. morally clean and simple position.” It seems that the debate Biasi finished by saying that the real revolution was tak- he initiated was a last attempt to draw artists’ attention to ing place not in the field of art but ultimately on the streets; this particular problem. However, the discussion turned out therefore, the most socially conscious artists were those who differently than he had anticipated: Western computer art- had decided not to come to Zagreb but had stayed in their ists’ circles were not ready for this kind of criticism. When I countries to support the student riots. Nake’s text “Reply to asked Nake directly about the alleged misunderstanding of Alberto Biasi” [16] was written to an extent as an ad hoc re- his position, he replied: sponse because it was supposed to address a totally different Did they misunderstand me? I don’t know. I certainly, in set of problems. Nake declared that although artists should PAGE, did not make my position very clear. As I said be- keep in mind the negative impact of the processes of automa- fore, what I wrote was rather naive, even a bit childish. So tion, they should not give up using computers responsibly in they could not really misunderstand me because I did not the fields of art or science, as there would always be people give them a real chance to understand. On the other hand, interested in using them anyway. Therefore, it would be bet- most of them were quite happy, I believe, with bourgeois re- ter to ensure that a person who decides to use technology gime. Therefore, we would not have understood each other, represents the appropriate views and has the right attitude even if I had presented my case better [21]. toward it. Nake postulated getting rid of an idealistic attitude toward artistic creativity and technology because reality is not black and white and sometimes artists must settle for The Art of Computing against Mechanized compromises. Just as one cannot force a worker to give up Mental Labor his job and join strikes, one cannot expect an artist to en- In 2010 Nake wrote an article titled “Paragraphs on Com- gage in research that does not serve anyone. Nake proposed puter Art, Past and Present,” creating a direct reference to inviting scientists for the next symposium, but ultimately Sol LeWitt’s text “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art” and em-

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Nake In the case of conceptual art, if an artist wanted to realize begins his text with a reflection on the term “computer art,” his idea in visual form, he would need to use appropriate which is coupled with some general remarks on the charac- media, while on the basis of computer art the idea is present teristics of the computer as a medium. from the start—it doesn’t need any material representation Nake wrote that computer art had been given this name since it is purely mathematical and rational: and not another in response to its rejection; it was a name When the algorithmic artist designs a work (an algorithm), “thrown against art history and into the faces of art critics” he writes a static text. He may print the text on paper. This and was thus a sign of artists’ affection for the new medium. shows the text quality of the work. It is a quality for the “It was a proud name and a bad one. ‘Algorithmic art’ would human reader to perceive and acknowledge. But the text’s have been the correct term. The superficial ‘computer art’ description is also operational. It can be executed by a com- disguised the revolutionary fact: the algorithmic principle puter. . . . When the computer executes the description, it had entered the world of art” [22]. reads it in its own, peculiar way: it realizes exactly what Nake came to the conclusion that the revolutionary char- the description requires it to do, and nothing else. Read- acter of this movement lay not in the use of the computer in ing always is interpreting. The computer, when reading the general but primarily in the introduction of the concept of art operational text, interprets it. Absolutely different from our algorithms, the main principle of which was computability. interpretation, the computer’s interpretation is a determi- According to Nake, early computer art was purely intellec- nation: no freedom allowed [27]. tual and as such could liberate artists from the necessity of mastering art techniques. The material in which the artist Therefore, we are faced with two modes of reading, human works consists of possibilities and potentialities, not reality and computer, which are extremely different even though and facts. Algorithmic work is a description of an infinite they pertain to the same “text.” As a member of the Algorists number of possible artworks that have some common for- group, Manfred Mohr once wrote that the algorithms be- mal features, although the similarities between them may hind his work contain an element of cruelty as they randomly be invisible at first glance, as one can recognize them only determine the structure of the work to such an extent that intellectually, since computer art is purely conceptual [23]. very often the artistic effect achieved is shocking and deeply From this perspective, Nake’s statement that the reper- disappointing for the artist [28]. Thus, as Mohr tries to con- toire of aesthetic functions has not radically changed due vince us, we are dealing not with computer art but with the to the use of computers becomes clearer, as he writes that art of computing, so “drawing by intellect” is possible if and the tragedy of computer art lies in the fact that it is based on only if all material aspects and components of a work have algorithms that cannot always be translated easily into visual been rejected. In other words, an artist who wishes to create effects. It has some properties whereby one can potentially according to algorithms needs to learn to think in such a generate an image, but each of these images is only a shadow manner as a machine would think if it could. behind an algorithm, a trace or a consolation for those who It seems that by referring to conceptual art, Nake returns would like to see rather than think. Nake sums up his argu- to the “conceptual impulse” [29] that was also visible within ment by saying that to look for masterpieces of computer art the New Tendencies movement, which was, however, not would require a comparison of the structure of algorithms, grasped by his adversaries during the debate in PAGE. The but this approach is probably inaccessible to art critics and movement’s main goal was to make art comprehensible art historians [24]. and approachable for as broad an audience as possible, but Nake claims that computer art belongs almost entirely to paradoxically, by turning to computers that required expert the domain of semiotics, which means that the term “con- knowledge, artists created a situation of exclusion. Comput- cept” has a different meaning than in the context of concep- ers had not yet become a visual technology that noticeably tual art. In his attempt to elaborate on this, Nake reintroduces influenced social life beyond computer labs. It seems that the concept of the algorithm, presenting it as a finite, static artists soon realized the trap they had laid for themselves, description of an infinite set of dynamic processes. He claims which threatened the success of the visual research program. that an algorithm is only a description of a set of signs that Suddenly, computer technology began to be perceived as a designates an infinite set of possible works based on it. Refer- bargain, because the side effect of its standardization was that ring to Sol LeWitt’s statement that “the idea becomes a ma- most artists achieved similar visual effects and only a few of chine that makes the art” [25], Nake writes that an algorithm them were technically capable of true innovation. is at once a text and a machine because it is an operational Also, Nake, who believed that the computer had become and executable description. liberated from the obligation to master art techniques, soon In both computer and conceptual art, the idea that stands realized that it was the other way around. The main reason behind the work is more significant than its implementation, behind his decision to put exhibiting on hold was his concern but from what Nake writes, it appears that algorithmic art is that computers would turn the creative process into mecha- more consistent, as “where conceptual art dances around the nized mental labor. possibility of, perhaps, realizing a piece and drawing pleasure

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Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/leon_a_01345 by guest on 29 September 2021 Conclusion such work to be a habit for Sunday painters [30]. He writes In his early arguments, Nake expects computer art to become that true artists, pioneers of computer art, worked on com- revolutionary, so it should lead to social change, at least theo- pletely naked machines, without operating systems or pro- retically. What does this mean in the context of this paper? In grams, and their relationship to them had almost an erotic what sense can algorithmic art lead to social change? Would character. The relation between artist and computer is a dan- it be possible to educate museum and gallery visitors about gerous love that, according to Nake, must be broken when computers to such an extent that they would think about computers become “killing machines.” I still think, however, algorithms like a machine (if only a machine could think)? that in the art of computing there is no escape from the ma- In this light, the process of “drawing by intellect,” chang- chines, as an algorithm is at once a text and a machine. While ing computer art into the art of computing, appears as a way Nake felt compelled to give up art as an existential choice to reverse the process of alienation that the mechanization at the beginning of the 1970s, a decade later he was able to of mental labor causes. Nake has since emphasized the fact return to computer art, which he then perceived as the art that although today there are numerous options supporting of computing. the creation of graphics with existing programs, he considers

Acknowledgments “PROCEDURE,” in which Alan Sutcliffe wrote, “One day I’ll write a book called PROCEDURAL ART: BEHAVIOURAL ART and be Research for this essay was financed by the Polish National Science Cen- famous but I’m too busy just now. Alan Sutcliffe,”PAGE No. 19 (De- tre as part of a doctoral research project titled “The Relationship Between cember 1971) p. 5. Art and Technology in Early Computer Art (1960–1989): A Comparative analysis of art created in Western Europe and in the former Soviet bloc,” 10 John H. Whitney, “Reflections on Art,” PAGE No. 21 (March 1972) carried out in the Institute of Philosophy of Jagiellonian University in p. 4. Kraków (grant no. N N105 048439). 11 Frieder Nake, “Technocratic Dadaists,” PAGE No. 21 (March 1972) pp. 2–3. References and Notes 12 Nake [11]. 1 Frieder Nake, “Early Computer Art, politics,” YouTube inter- view by Christophe De Jaeger and Bart Stolle: www.youtube.com 13 Gary William Smith, “Computer Art and Real Art,” PAGE No. 22 /watch?v=9ICXIhAprD8 (accessed 1 October 2018). (April 1972) pp. 1–2.

2 One of the few artists who addressed the problem of responsibil- 14 D. Plamenic, “The Belgrade Student Insurrection,” New Left Re- ity for using computers by making reference to Germans’ attitude view 54 (March–April 1969); Boris Kanzleiter, “1968 in Yugoslavia: toward Nazism was Gustav Metzger. See Gustav Metzger, “Untitled,” Student Revolt between East and West,” in Martin Klimke, Jacco in Margit Rosen et al., eds., A Little-Known Story about a Movement, Pekelder and Joachim Scharloth, eds., Between Prague Spring and a Magazine, and the Computer’s Arrival in Art: New Tendencies and French May: Opposition and Revolt in Europe, 1960–1980 (Oxford Bit International, 1961–1973 (Cambridge, MA, and : ZKM and New York: Berghahn Books, 2011). Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, MIT Press, 2012) pp. 422–426. Originally published in bit international 7, Boris Kelemen and Ra- 15 Alberto Biasi, “Situation 1967,” in Rosen [2] pp. 268–269. Originally doslav Putar, eds. (Zagreb: Galerije grada Zagreba, 1971) pp. 26–33. published as “Situacija 1967/Situazione 1967,” in bit international 3, Boris Kelemen and Radoslav Putar, eds. (Zagreb: Galerije grada Za- 3 Nake [1]. greba, 1971) pp. 29–33.

4 Frieder Nake, letter to the author (30 May 2012). 16 Frieder Nake, “Reply to Alberto Biasi,” in Rosen [2] pp. 270–271. Originally published as “Odgovor A. Biasiu/Replik an A. Biasi,” in 5 Frieder Nake, “Statement for PAGE,” PAGE No. 8 (May 1970) p. 2. bit international 3 (1971) pp. 35–39. See also Gustav Metzger, “Manifesto of the International Coalition for the Liquidation of Art,” PAGE No. 11 (October 1970) pp. 2–3. In 17 Norbert Wiener, “Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Au- 1970 Metzger joined the International Coalition for the Liquidation tomation,” Science, New Series 131, No. 3410, 1355–1358 (6 May 1960). of Art and, in PAGE, he published a manifesto where in harsh words he urged artists to abandon art consumed by the capitalistic market. 18 Norbert Wiener, Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the All issues of PAGE are available on the Computer Arts Society web- Animal and the Machine (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1961) p. 27. site: http://computer-arts-society.com/page. 19 Frieder Nake, correspondence with the author, May 2012. 6 Frieder Nake, “There Should Be No Computer Art,” PAGE No. 18 (October 1971) pp. 1–2. 20 Nake [19].

7 Nake [6]. 21 Nake [19].

8 John Lansdown, “Computer Graphics # Computer Art,” PAGE No. 22 Frieder Nake, “Paragraphs on Computer Art, Past and Present,” in 19 (December 1971) p. 2. CAT 2010: Ideas before their time: Connecting the past and present in computer art (London: Computer Art and Technocultures AHRC 9 Jack Burnham, Beyond Modern Sculpture: The Effects of Science and Project, 3 February 2010) pp. 55–63. Technology on the Sculpture of This Century (London: Allen Lane, Penguin Press, 1968). Burnham claims that we can observe on the 23 Nake [22]. ground of technological art a shift from object- to process-oriented art. See also Mike Thompson’s letter published in PAGE No. 4 (Au- 24 See discussion on composition of a jury for the prospective Zagreb gust 1969) on the importance of the notion of process for computer exhibition, between Nake, Kurd Alsleben, Boris Kelemen, Vladimir art production, as well as a very short handwritten notice titled Bonačić and Ivan Picelj, during which the latter said, “To me, a math-

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Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/leon_a_01345 by guest on 29 September 2021 ematician is an artist; an artist on the jury, if he is real artist, will be Burnham, Software—Information Technology: Its New Meaning for inclined to his subjective view.” The rest of the people present during Art, exh. cat. (New York: Jewish Museum, 1970). this meeting seemed to agree with his intuition. “Meeting of the t-4 Organizational Board Held on August 4, 1968 in Čatež ob Savi,” in 30 Frieder Nake, “Work. Computers. Design.” Scandinavian Journal Rosen [2] p. 287. of Information Systems 10, No. 1 (1998). Retrieved from: www.iris .cs.aau.dk/tl_files/volumes/volume10/no1/OCR023_nake_p53-60 25 Sol LeWitt, “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art,” Artforum 5, No. 10 .pdf (accessed 11 July 2015). (June 1967) pp. 79–83 (emphasis in original). 26 Nake [22]. Manuscript received 25 March 2015. 27 Nake [22].

28 Frieder Nake, “form.algorithmus.farbe—Manfred Mohr: Algorith- Joanna Walewska is an assistant professor in the miker,” in Peter Volkwein, ed. space.color (, Germany: Museum für konkrete Kunst, 2001) pp. 23–35. Cultural Studies department of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. She studied film and philosophy at 29 Along with computer and constructive art, another subject of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where she defended 1973 Tendencies 5 exhibition was conceptual art. Radoslav Putar, “t-5,” in Rosen [2] pp. 482–483. The idea of conceptual art as data her PhD thesis on early computer art. Her book on the processing was also a subject of Jack Burnham’s exhibition Software. work of Edward Ihnatowicz was published in 2015.

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