These drawings are the result of a collaboration between an artist, Jim
Johnson, a faculty member in the Department of Fine Arts, and a group of
scientists from the Department of Computer Science in the School of
Engineering of the University of Colorado. They also represent a unique
collaboration between an artist and a robot computer developed at the
Media Lab at MIT. This computer is capable of holding in memory small
programs which enable it to respond to various stimuli, such as sound and
light. It is constructed of Lego bricks and has two motorized wheels.
When a pen or marker is attached to it, "the brick" can draw lines as it
moves over the paper drawing surface.
Various programs were downloaded to "the brick" which either responded
to, or traced the brush & ink lines drawn by the artist. When short
strokes were drawn across the path of "the brick" it would respond by
backing up and moving in another direction. Thus, several of the
drawings were made by attempting to keep "the brick" in the middle of the
paper or from going off the edge of it. One drawing was produced by
drawing a line around a rectangle which "the brick" traced and eventually
left to follow the edge of the rectangle. This routine produced a
tangent line, which surprised and delighted the group. Two other
drawings, "Game 1" and "Game 2", were the product of a large group of
participants who attempted to keep "the brick" inside a large rectangle.
The resulting drawings traced the lines which went outside the
rectangle.
For the artist, the project had an unexpected result. After several
unsuccessful attempts to incorporate experience acquired in using the
computer to create works of art, he returned to a more direct
approachthat of drawing strokes and lines by hand. Doing so, rekindled
an interest and appreciation of analog modes of art-making.
