Max Bense was born 1910 in Strasbourg (F). He studied mathematics, physics and philosophy in Bonn, Cologne and Basel (CH). Beginning 1925 Bense published literary texts: poems, prose and plays. From 1949 onward he was a professor of the philosophy of technology, scientific theory, and mathematical logic at the Technical University of Stuttgart, where he taught until 1976. In the late 1950s and the 1960s, he was the key figure of the Stuttgart School, thought of as an experimental testing ground for rational aesthetics. Influenced by cybernetics and computer art, Bense devoted himself to creating an information theoretical foundation for aesthetics, and to text produced with machines.

He coined the term «information aesthetics» and tried to develop from it the scientifically sound statement of a corresponding and quantifiable aesthetic. This was a theme often addressed in many of his publications: «Aesthetic Information» (1957), «Mathematics and Beauty» (1960), «Aesthetica. An Introduction to New Aesthetics» (1965), «An Introduction to Information Theoretical Aesthetics» (1969), «The Representation and Grounding of Realities: The Sum of Semiotic Perspectives» (1986) and others. Bense died 1990 in Stuttgart.

from: medienkunstnetz.de