A square composition of luminous pink, orange, yellow-green and pale blue forms arranged around a central motif on black. Part of Herbert W. Franke’s Math Art series of 1980–1995, the image was selected for his first NFT release with Quantum Art in 2022.
Provenance
Issued by Quantum Art in 2022 as part of Herbert W. Franke’s self-curated, 100-work Math Art release. The digital edition draws on the historical series dated 1980–1995.
Against a black ground, nine groups of brightly colored contours form an arrangement resembling an ornamental tile or patterned textile. A large central motif is framed by elongated forms above, below and to either side, with smaller paired shapes at the corners. Pink and orange outlines enclose yellow-green, pale blue and white areas. Repetition and approximate symmetry give the composition its structure, while differences within the contours keep the eye moving between the center and its surrounding forms.
No. 62 belongs to Math Art, Franke’s sustained investigation into the visual possibilities of mathematical relationships. In a collaboration developed with physicist and programmer Horst Helbig at the German Aerospace Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, formulas and numerical structures became sources of artistic imagery. The wider project explored algebra, Fourier transforms, fractals, complex numbers, fields and chance processes, as well as combinations of image-processing methods. The release does not identify which specific operation produced this image.
The foundation’s account identifies a Comtal image-processing system and DIBIAS software as the technical basis of the series. In a 2020 interview, Franke recalled using the research center’s equipment with Helbig at weekends; Helbig’s professional work involved evaluating satellite images. Access to this system allowed them to investigate mathematical structures through color and image transformation. Their experiments also contributed new graphical routines to DIBIAS, linking artistic exploration with the development of the software itself.
Color was integral to this research. The Francisco Carolinum’s contemporary account of the series describes how color could encode structural elements, including the heights of mathematical surfaces translated into two-dimensional images. In No. 62, the nested bands can suggest topographic contours, while the repeating forms evoke biological specimens or ornament. These are visual associations; the image’s published metadata supplies no representational subject or individual formula.
In 2022 Franke selected 100 images from Math Art for release through Quantum Art around his ninety-fifth birthday. The project brought an earlier body of computer art into digital collecting and supported the establishment of the art meets science foundation. The collection is titled Math Art (1980–1995), and the present work retains its release title, Math Art 95 – No. 62. The historical range refers to the underlying series; a more precise creation year for this image has not been established by the sources consulted.