[SERIALITY AND FUEL: A RARE PHOTOBOOK FROM THE CRADLE OF COMPUTER ART] Oh ihr verdammten Arschl?cher: Buch 12. Arschl?cher 1970?1972 [Oh, you damn assholes: Book 12. Assholes 1970?1972] Schmidt, Wolfgang (artist) and Wendelin Niedlich (publisher) Art,Avant-Garde,Concrete Poetry,Design,Germany

Stuttgart: Wendelin Niedlich, 1972. Small octavo (14.7 ? 10.5 cm). Original printed stiff card wrappers; [92] pp. with 82 full-page reproductions of photographs by Heike Adolphs, Florian Fischer, Falk Hofmann, and Wolfgang Schmidt. Binding very slightly stained and toned; else very good. Rare artist's and/or photo book by one of the outstanding representatives of graphic design in the environment of the Ulm School of Design, the pioneers of Concrete Poetry around Dieter Roth and Hansj?rg Meyer, as well as computer art around Max Bense. Schmidt, who experimented with seriality in media such as typography and photography, here arranged photographs of car and motorcycle exhaust pipes alphabetically by brand, along with a few advertisements for gas stations, oil companies, etc. The relationship between the theme of the series and its idiosyncratic title is explained in the introduction: ?A car's exhaust pipe is its asshole. Your car's exhaust pipe is an extension of your asshole. Only much more vicious? (p. 8). Schmidt is largely unknown to the general public today, not least because of his refusal to accept the professorships offered to him. Schmidt not only accepted major commissions ? such as the development of the signage and orientation system for the Frankfurt am Main light rail system or from the manufacturer of Dieter Rams' furniture, "Vitsoe & Zapf" ? but also from underground journals and artist friends, etc. Thus Schmidt also developed the complete corporate identity for the small, low-turnover bookshop and gallery Wendelin Niedlich, which was important for the beginnings of computer art. In 1965, Niedlich organized the third public exhibition ever, in which works were exhibited that were conceived with the help of a digital computer and executed by a computer-controlled drawing machine ("plotter"). The two previous exhibitions took place in the same year, one also in Stuttgart and the other at the Howard Wise Gallery in New York. On display were works by Frieder Nake and Georg Nees, which were influenced by Max Bense, who taught in Stuttgart. (For extensive information on Wolfgang Schmidt see: Anke Jaaks (ed.), Worte und Bilder. Wolfgang Schmidt, Mainz 1992.) Schmidt himself was also interested in mechanizing graphic design as much as possible and developing it by computational means. The designer Eckard Neumann, teacher at the Ulm School of Design and head of communication design at "Braun", writes about Schmidt's working methods, among other things: "There is no final form in Schmidt's series, only a starting point and method. (.) He draws a basic formula of geometric figures, which he multiplies, subtracts or moves, rotates, shifts and superimposes according to certain rhythms and mathematical methods. (.) All of Wolfgang Schmidt's works consist of many parts, of series of figures, of design series ? serial art, without speaking of art in the old sense. (.) Starting from a basic pattern, he develops his pictorial theme through a system. Only in the first form, the basic pattern, is there an individual definition that determines the figuration, format and color. After that, the theme is changed through systematic superimposition or reduction to create new figurations in which there can theoretically be no end. Economy of means is one of the main characteristics of Schmidt's artistic ideology. (.) Wolfgang Schmidt operates 'all processes manually as far as necessary ? mechanically as far as possible'." Schmidt has established a number of such rules for his series. Others read, for example: ?Arbitrary interventions to achieve a more beautiful appearance are prohibited? or ?Material and rules may never deviate from the previously fixed plan in the work process.? (Ibid., pp. 20?23). One of only 200 copies. Parr/Badger p. 148; Jaaks, Schmidt p. 66/67. As of August 2025, KVK and OCLC list only one copy in North America and only one other copy worldwide.