Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 5: Artist-Programmer Era (1970s)

1972

P-120-A Meta Language II by Manfred Mohr

Artwork

Not P-120-A: Manfred Mohr's P-133 (cluster phobia) of 1972, a dense field of algorithmically placed marks made in the same year and from the same generative-aesthetics programme as Meta Language II.
Not P-120-A: Manfred Mohr's P-133 (cluster phobia) of 1972, a dense field of algorithmically placed marks made in the same year and from the same generative-aesthetics programme as Meta Language II. Manfred Mohr, P-133 (cluster phobia), 1972. Victoria and Albert Museum, London (E.80-2008). Given by the Computer Arts Society, supported by System Simulation Ltd, London.

This work was heavily inspired by Max Bense’s generative aesthetics and, by extension, Noam Chomsky’s Syntactic Structures and his work with generative linguistics. P-120-A Meta Language II, a dense grid of marks, explores the relationship between symbols and systems.

Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.

Sources

People

Manfred Mohr, Max Bense, Noam Chomsky

Movements

computer art, generative art, information aesthetics

Filed under

Ideas
generative art, language, systems
Technologies
computer art, generative aesthetics, generative grammar
People
Manfred Mohr, Max Bense, Noam Chomsky
Works
P-120-A Meta Language II, Syntactic Structures

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