Drawing with Code

For Floris van Manen, drawing begins with code. His work explores the fascinating territory where art, technology, and perception intersect. Driven by a lifelong curiosity about how we hear and see, he creates intricate pen plotter drawings that reveal the unexpected beauty of structure, repetition, and transformation.

His journey into computer-generated art began in the 1970s at the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht, where he wrote his first programs in PDP-15 assembly language and FORTRAN IV to control an analogue pen plotter. What started as an exploration of early computer technology has evolved into a distinctive artistic practice.

Today, Van Manen writes his own Python code on a Linux laptop, directing a Summa D120R pen plotter to create finely detailed vector drawings. Using rOtring Isograph technical pens with pigment ink on acid-free paper, he transforms mathematical instructions into tangible works of art.

Rather than drawing directly by hand, he develops visual structures through a process of coding, observation, and gradual refinement. Each step is a deliberate artistic decision. Lines emerge, patterns evolve, and elements appear or disappear as the composition unfolds. The machine executes the instructions, but the artist remains firmly in control of the creative journey.

His approach is one of exploration rather than predetermined outcomes. By moving beyond familiar visual conventions, he reveals unexpected relationships and hidden complexities within seemingly simple structures. Each drawing becomes a record of this investigation — a meeting of human curiosity, computational precision, and artistic intuition.

The result is a papertrail. A body of work that invites the viewer to look closer, to question what is visible, and to discover the complexity within apparant simplicity.

Floris van Manen's work is on display in (private) collections around the world.