drawing machines

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Design Music

A Drawing Machine Linked to A Synthesizer Audiates Geometric Illustrations by Musician Lamond Campbell

Beyond the scratch of the pen on paper, drawing as a practice isn’t thought to be particularly rhythmic or melodic. An inventive machine by musician Lamond Campbell, though, adds a musical component to its looped sketches. The Harmonograph Synthesiser is exactly as its name suggests: Campbell connected a modern, modular synthesizer to an 18th-Century harmonograph, an antiquated apparatus that uses pendulums to render geometric shapes. Two of the swinging mechanisms move linearly with the pen, while the third rotates with the board. Each triggers the synthesizer when movement occurs, which creates the corresponding audio track. An additional microphone picks up the noise of the pen.

Watch the video above to see the intricacies of the modified contraption. Campell is selling a complete, 18-track collection on his site, and you can find more about his multi-media creations on Instagram and YouTube. To see a reverse audio-visual process, check out “Visual Sounds of the Amazon II.” (thnx, Craig!)

Art

Metal and Wood Drawing Machines by James Nolan Gandy Form Mesmerizing Multi-Color Ellipses

James Nolan Gandy (previously) uses his metalworking knowledge to create drawing machines that produce finely tuned, yet expressive works. The machines are purely mechanical, yet their result is something that appears almost digital, as if the drawn orbs and ellipses were designed in a computer program rather than executed by an analog structure. To create multi-color works Gandy must pause the machine to switch out each color, furthering the collaboration between the built artistic object and his own aesthetic desires. You can watch his mesmerizing machines in action in the videos below, and view more of his finished work on his website and Instagram.

 

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A post shared by James Nolan Gandy (@gandyworks) on Feb 2, 2019 at 10:34am PST

 

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A post shared by James Nolan Gandy (@gandyworks) on Jul 5, 2019 at 10:08pm PDT

Design

Scribit: the Programmable Robot that Draws on Walls (on Purpose)

Invented by MIT Professor Carlo Ratti, the Scribit is a new robot drawing machine that creates text and images using erasable inks. The project’s creators bill it as a useful tool in work environments as well as an easy and interchangeable way to decorate one’s home. The robot draws its imagery either from an app or from files that users upload themselves. Scribit is currently funding on Kickstarter, where it reached its goal within two hours.

Art

A Gigantic Helium-Filled and Charcoal-Studded Sphere Covers Rooms with Unpredictable Designs

Polish-German artist Karina Smigla-Bobinski gives buoyancy to the act of drawing with ADA, a large inflatable drawing tool. Filled with helium, ADA floats freely, making lines with its charcoal spikes as it moves through a room. More dramatic mark-making starts to occur when humans are added to the mix: the video above shows visitors engaging with ADA at Muffathalle where it was installed for a week in Munich, Germany.

The artist describes ADA in a statement: “The globe put in action fabricates a composition of lines and points, which remain incalculable in their intensity, expression, and form however hard the visitor tries to control ADA, to drive her, to domesticate her. Whatever he tries out, he would notice very soon, that ADA is an independent performer, studding the originally white walls with drawings and signs.”

Smigla-Bobinski categorizes ADA as biotechnology and pays homage to past creatives that have designed computer-like works, which give unpredictable outputs once given a command. She mentions Ada Lovelace, Jean Tinguely, and Vannevar Bush as influences.

The artist studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow and Munich. Her work, which ranges from kinetic sculptures to multimedia theater performances, has been shown in forty five countries. ADA made its debut at the Electronic Language Int. Festival in São Paulo, in 2011, and has since traveled the world. You can see more from Smigla-Bobinski on her website and YouTube channel.

Art

Complex Moiré Patterns Created by Mechanical Drawings Machines by James Nolan Gandy

A post shared by James Nolan Gandy (@gandyworks) on Feb 7, 2018 at 6:34pm PST

Artist and metalworker James Nolan Gandy creates elaborate drawing machines that easily put your childhood spirograph to shame. The machines are engineered from relatively simple mechanisms that when combined, produce mind-boggling shapes and interconnected moiré patterns.

Although the gears and pulleys are crafted in a way to make some of the work on their own, Gandy has not yet manufactured a system to lift the pen at specific intervals. Therefore many of his works are collaborative studies, equally created from the talents of man and machine. Some of my favorites are those created with a high contrast between paper and ink, such as the brilliant blue form seen in his drawing below.

You can view more of Gandy’s drawing machines in action on his Instagram. (via The Awesomer)

A post shared by James Nolan Gandy (@gandyworks) on Jan 13, 2018 at 7:46pm PST

A post shared by James Nolan Gandy (@gandyworks) on Nov 30, 2017 at 10:17pm PST

Art Design

The New ‘NeoLucida XL’ Camera Lucida Makes it Easier to Trace What You See

Artist and SAIC professor Pablo Garcia (previously) has added an update to his previous take on the two century old Camera Lucida, an optical device that allows you to trace images and scenes directly from life. The new version, NeoLucida XL, is similar to its predecessor, however with a much larger viewfinder. The prism inside the updated analog device remains the same size, while the larger mirror and glass make it much easier to draw the projected “ghost image.” You can read more about the device on its Kickstarter page.