Return homeDrawing Machine 3.1415926 v. 2 explores the notion of generative art or art that makes art on its own. The piece consists of a three tiered mobile sculpture that is driven by the vibration of a motor. This vibration is controlled in two ways. First by the machines programming, essentially a set of instructions on how to draw. Secondly by monitoring one or two microphones, giving it the ability to “listen” to its environment. When it hears something loud enough it uses that information directly to create marks. In this way the machine collaborates with its environment; sometimes using its program and sometimes using what it hears to make drawings.
Over the years the machine has been installed in several locations and configured in different ways. Some drawings are reflective of music played to it (for example the music of Charlie Parker), while others are the voices of children and adults that visited it while it was installed at The Ark: A Cultural Center for Children in Dublin, Ireland. Each drawing takes several hours to make, in some cases over three-hundred.
2008
The machine is made of aluminum, steel, wood, glass, and electronic components. The drawings are made on vellum using many Papermate pens.