First Sneaks: The Upcoming Immersive World Premiere

World Premiere

St. James’ Church Hatcham, Goldsmiths, University of London
2027, February 5th, 2:00 – 3:30 PM (invited guests only)
public loop presentation
2027, February 6th und 7th -9 AM to 6 PM

With the help of artificial intelligence, artist Huichuan Wang, based at Goldsmiths, University of London, and working in close collaboration with the Herbert W. Franke Foundation, transforms the most important series from the period of Generative Photography of the 1950s into a 30-minute immersive performance. As early as in his 1957 book Kunst und Konstruktion (Art and Construction), Franke regretted that he was only able to capture a photographic image of the moving processes, which mathematically were even multidimensional.

Original-Zitat aus Kunst und Konstruktion (1957) – English translation in Art and Construction / Kunst und Konstruktion. Edition Herbert W. Franke (2026):
It is possible to generalize our considerations made with regard to two- and three-dimensional space and extend them into spaces of four, five, and more dimensions. In this way, we obtain multi-dimensional structures, shapes of which we know that they are very beautiful, although it is also clear that we cannot build or even visualize them. The only thing that we can picture and perhaps even realize in some cases are three- or two-dimensional cuts through multi-dimensional shapes.

Here, then, it is not only possible to move the creation of abstract forms onto an intellectual plane; there simply is no alternative to it. What we are dealing with here is something completely new, something for which we do not even have a name – purely intellectual abstractions, cerebral explorations in areas where mathematics and aesthetics become one, a polyphony of abstract forms. For the first time, we have reached a threshold that we cannot cross for the time being.

To mark Franke’s centenary, his vision is now becoming reality with the help of AI. The 30-minute performance relies exclusively on the formal repertoire predefined by Franke in the very same book. For this purpose, the AI was trained in an offline application at Goldsmiths University using numerous high-resolution digital copies of his iconic early photo series:Lichtformen, Raumstudien, Wellenformen, Oszillogramme, Tanz der Elektronen und Röntgen-Hartstrahlen (Light Forms, Spatial Studies, Waveforms, Oscillograms, Dance of the Electrons, and Hard X-rays). An interview with Huichuan Wang with more background informaiton about the project here. More information about the projekt launch here.

The premiere will take place at St. James’ Church Hatcham on February 5th before an invited audience. On the two following days, Saturday and Sunday, the performance will also be open to the public as a loop presentation between 9 AM and 6 PM.