P148, "inschrift", computer generated algorithmic plotter drawing, ink on paper, 50cm x 50cm, 1973

© 1973 by Manfred Mohr

About the algorithm:
The drawing is constructed from a series of 2 horizontal solid lines spaced a distance apart.
Between each pair of lines, a third line is broken up into short equal length pieces and a random sequence of 0's and 1's decides the position of each piece.
For each short line if it's random number is 1, it is drawn at the bottom of the top line and if its random number is 0, it is drawn at the top of the bottom line.
As an aesthetic decision, not to start or end with a solid horizontal line, the surface is treated as a torus. Thus the top and bottom of the drawing have complementary short lines (as described above). The original version of the program, also from 1973, did not have this - i.e. the surface was treated as a flat plane.

First published:
Catalog Manfred Mohr, "Drawings Dessins Zeichnungen Dibujos", Galerie Weiller, Paris and Galerie Gilles Gheerbrant, Montreal, 1974 (catalog and shows)

About the work:
A drawing from this program P-148, 1973, was shown at MoMa | the Museum of Modern Art, New York in the exhibition "Printed Art - A View of Two Decades", curated by Riva Castleman, 1980.
- the drawing was borrowed from the collection of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart Germany
- NY Times Article, Invitation, PDF of catalog (Manfred Mohr drawing on page 90)

A drawing from this program P-148, 1973, is in the Anne + Michael Spalter Digital Art Collection, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
A print from this program P-148, 1973, part of the portfolio Scratch Code 1976, is in the Anne + Michael Spalter Digital Art Collection, Providence, Rhode Island, USA