Drawing Machine

Tim Knowles

Tim Knowles uses the natural elements to create his drawings by attaching drawing implements to tree branches and letting the effect of the wind on the branches do the drawing for him. I think this presents an interesting way to record the process of wind and its effect on the movement of foliage.  The variety of marks and shapes produced through this process are so much more diverse than those produced by holding a pen.I think that the lack of human intervention allows the pen to produce marks in a way that would not be possible if a person were controlling it.    This is something that I want to try and replicate in my drawing machine however, I don’t think that I can feasibly do this in the time I have as I would like to experiment win, media and it relies on wind which is very unpredictable.

I do want to try and recreate the lack of human control in some way though, so I am going to do some more research to see how I might be able to do this.

Source :

Rebecca Horn

Rebecca Horn’s pencil mask really interests me. I think the way that she can control the movement of the pencils but not the marks made as she is not holding the pencil creates a compelling piece of work. I want to try and find a way to incorporate the lack of direct control this piece has into my drawing machine, in combination with the inspiration I have taken from Tim Knowles.

sources :

Karina Smigla-Bobinski

‘Ada’ is a big balloon filled with helium that floats around a white room.

The balloon has pieces of charcoal attached all over the surface that make marks on the walls, floor and ceiling as it moves around the room.

   The balloon floats around the room on its own or gets moved by people; the movement of the balloon is through human intervention but the marks made aren’t directly leading to really interesting mark making; ‘though people try and control where it touches and how it spins, its lines are often independent and unpredictable’ (Rion Nakaya, 2015)

   The lack of direct human intervention creates an interesting dynamic between the artist and the art – is the person creating the piece or is it the balloon that is?

Does the person become the artist because they are controlling/ made the tool? Is the balloon an extension of the arm or hand?

sources :