Encryption–Decryption

Mathematics in Contemporary Art

Mathematics has entered contemporary art in a variety of ways. For “encryption–decryption,” Professor Dietmar Guderian has selected items that deal with the application of computers to cryptography; indeed, the encryption of everyday numbers and letters into the binary system is the basis of every computer application.

The art exhibition presents works by noted artists that take various perspectives on the theme of encryption: Josef Linschinger paints commodity bar codes; Karsten Panzer treats the genetic code subjectively but convincingly. A. R. Penck discovers a trove of symbols for his art; Waltraut Cooper uses binary code in a neon installation for interactive encoding of data. Karl Harrmann’s text transforms itself into visual poetry, and the code word in the graffiti of artplosion becomes a work of art in the public sphere. Klaus Schneider encodes a poem by Mallarmé using Braille and chance a second and third time.

Curator: Professor Dietmar Guderian
Pedagogical Institute, Freiburg