An endlessly developing geometric animation based on Herbert W. Franke’s 1982 Apple II program. Nested rectangles, stepped forms and changing colors turn a compact set of rules into an open-ended composition.
Provenance
Released in 2023 through PROOF in collaboration with EXPANDED.ART and the Foundation Herbert W. Franke. Token 5000163 is dated 21 November 2023. The underlying Apple II program was created in 1982.
Franke wrote Zentrum in BASIC for the Apple II in 1982. The home computer enabled him to write and run his own programs, extending a practice that had often depended on access to institutional equipment and collaboration with programmers.
The 2023 release translates that historical program for contemporary browsers. Aaron Penne developed the adaptation with Susanne Päch and the Foundation Herbert W. Franke, in a project presented with PROOF and EXPANDED.ART. The foundation reports that the original code was recovered from Franke’s historical computer with the help of ZKM. The adaptation sought to preserve both the program’s behavior and the character of its early display.
Franke originally connected his Apple II to a domestic television. Päch emphasized the importance of this display in the reconstruction: the character of its colors and cathode-ray-tube surface belonged to the experience of the work. Penne’s adaptation therefore includes simulated CRT effects. The color palette of #163 is “Apple ][”.