Sketching Device #1
by Ranjit Bhatnagar
Sketching Device #1 is a moody art machine for which expression is
more important than precision. Its bad temper turns simple instructions
(back, left, down, right, repeat) into unpredictable swirls and snarls.
Based on research by Dan Reznik at the University of
California, and inspired by a remark by Ed Stastny,
Sketching Device #1 sends
low-frequency vibrations through a sheet of paper to guide
objects-- such as pens-- in any direction, without direct
contact. The principle is similar to the way you scoot
yourself around in a rolling office chair without touching
the floor: jerk back quickly to make the chair move forward,
and relax more slowly to get centered again without pulling
the chair back. Sketching Device #1 does this about thirty
times per second-- too fast too see-- and the pen in its
plastic "boat" appears to float around the page by itself.
In this primitive implementation, the process is not very
reliable or predictable, and that is what makes the
resulting sketches interesting.
Ranjit Bhatnagar works at gameLab (www.gmlb.com), lives in
Brooklyn, and has been making impractical art and music
devices for nearly twenty years. Other projects include the
Silence Organ (Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia), and, with
gameLab, Fluid (Centre for Global Dialogue, Zurich).
links:
http://www.moonmilk.com/labs/upm
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