mechalgorithmics
le 104 (Paris, france)
16 june – 17 June 2012
Parc de la villette (paris, France)
7 July – 29 July 2012
Kinetica art fair (London, Uk)
27 feb – 3 march 2013
Hommage to Tinguely
This installation is mechanical algorithm that implements a semi-automatic artist (in hommage to Jean Tinguely’s automatic artist). The idea was to illustrate, mechanically, what an algorithm would look like if it were to subsist in the real world. Underlying this installation is the questions of who should own the copyright over computer generated / computer assisted works ? Is it the programmer who made the software that generate the art piece, is it the users who actually use the software, or is it the actual computer who generated the art piece ? Legally speaking, the answer is difficult, since most countries do not even recognize legal protection for computer-generated works. However, we believe that the programmer who constructed the algorithm that will subsequently generate the art work should be – to the least – recognized as the originator of the piece. This is the reason why we decided to display our algorithm to the public, with all its beauty and intricacy.
User input, although absolutely necessary to activate the machine, is not as such part of the creative process. By pedalling the machine, the user activates the beast who engages into a strange dance. A peristaltic pump activated through the pedals of the machine pump paint into a hose that travels through the body of the beast, to finally be spitted out onto a canvas, thereby generating a unique abstract painting. Is the user actually the creator of this painting, or is it just the executor ? Should attribution be given to us – the conceptors of the algorithm – or rather to the beast, who actually executed the painting through its dance ? A definitive answer is difficult to give, without engaging into philosophical discussions and debating legal issues.
To us, it does not really matter. We see art, not as a static artwork, but rather as a dynamic process and interactive event, that does not originate from one specific author, but rather from the contribution of several factors that are all part of the final art piece.
We see ourselves as coders, or rather physical coders. Programming the physical world is probably the hardest thing one can think of, but if digital programming allows one to shape the digital world, then physical programming is definitely a means to shape, and hopefully to enhance the physical world.
Below is a video of the first version of our installation as exhibited at the Centquatre in Paris
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Kinetica Art Fair
Our Kinetica exhibition in London, England was no easy task but getting hundreds of people on the machine and thousands of semi-automatic paintings made was well worth the trip. The organizers requested we bring the semi-automatic painting machine that was inspired by the work of Jean Tinguely MetaMatic machines of the 1950s. We were happy to do so because of the poetry and beauty involved in a painting machine and endevored to take the opportunity to improve the sculptures design and specifically to enhance the experience for the interacter. It was for this reason that the greatest change visible is in the area where the public sits received the most attention.
The Sculpture Seat was raised Much higher up and stairs were added as a way to give the user a small sense of fear as they mounted and a larger Sensation of control over the painting beast. The sensation is an illusion of course as the paint that moves out of the beast is the flow and movement that results from the pedaling makes the painting rather impossible to design despite complete. Imagine holding a garden hose, by the hose, about 1 meter from the nozzle spiting out paint and trying to draw something recognizable.
THE Gallery
Parc de la Vilette
To celebrate the arrival of the summer, we installed our previous installation (Mechalgorithmics) into the Parc de la Villette in Paris, where it has been converted into a mechanical painter (spitting paint over the clothes of the public) an a bubbles generator, for the entertainmnt of many children (and adults) in the parc.
We added reins to the mechanical creature, so that the public could better control the manner in which the paint will drop onto their clothing. The idea was to allow anyone walking through the Parc de la Villette, to take off some of their clothes and decorate them with tinted paint, spitted through the mouth of our mechanical painter. The result was not one of the most satisfactory from an aesthetic point of view (the public was often unable to properly control our beast), but all seemed extremely happy to let our creature destroy their clothes – an unexpected but obviously appreciated result !
