Karl Gerstener (1930-2017) - Sculpture, Algorhitmus 2 - 32 cm - Acrylic - 1972

Karl Gerstner

Algorhitmus 2, screen print on acrylic, 32 x 32 x 9.5 cm, 1975

Karl Gerstner (* July 2, 1930 in Basel; † January 1, 2017 there) was a Swiss graphic designer, advertising professional, author of specialist books, painter of Concrete Art, and an important representative of Swiss typography.

Since the surfaces are each designed asymmetrically, a single plate initially has:

* Front visible: 4 orientations — top, bottom, left, right
* Back visible: 4 orientations — top, bottom, left, right

That is:

2 x 4 = 8

different image orientations per plate.

For four plates, the number of orientations is:

8^4 = 4,096

The four distinguishable plates can also be arranged one after another in

4! = 24

different orders.

Therefore:

4,096 x 24 = 98,304

This gives 98,304 possible configurations,
if

1. each plate can show either its front or back,
2. each visible image surface can be placed in four orientations — top, bottom, left, right,
3. the four plates can be arranged in any order,
4. and no two colored surfaces or orientations are visually identical.

This corresponds to the astonishingly large number of variations possible using just four physical plates.

The plate at the front allows the three behind it to remain visible through its transparent areas.
Each configuration is an overlay of four individual image states. The figure 98,304 is the number of possible arrangements that produce the visible compositions.
The variations made possible by lighting are, of course, virtually infinite.


Karl Gerstner:

documenta III. International Exhibition; catalog: Volume 1: Painting and Sculpture; Volume 2: Hand Drawings; Volume 3: Industrial Design, Graphic Art; Kassel/Cologne 1964.

Exhibition catalog for documenta IV: documenta IV. International Exhibition; catalog: Volume 1: (Painting and Sculpture); Volume 2: (Graphic Art/Objects); Kassel 1968.

1973: Museum of Modern Art, New York City: Designing Programs/Programming Designs: An Exhibition of Karl Gerstner, curated by Emilio Ambasz.

Categories:
Book designer (Switzerland) Typographer (Switzerland) Graphic designer (Switzerland) Artist (documenta)
Member of the Academy of Arts (Berlin) Concrete artist, painter (Switzerland) Author, art collector

Photographs form part of the condition description.