Visual artist Benjamin Grosser has developed an “Interactive Robotic Painting Machine” that lets the sounds of its environment be its canvas maneuvering guide.
Benjamin Grosser, Interactive Robotic Painting Machine (2011) installation computers, robotics, camera, microphone, mixer, speakers, projector, oil paint, canvas, and custom software
“Our everyday interactions are increasingly mediated by technology, be they mobile phones, chat systems, or social networking sites. These systems are designed to anticipate and support our needs and desires while facilitating those interactions. As these systems grow in complexity, or intelligence, how does that intelligence change what passes through them? Further, how does that intelligence evolve to make its own work for its own needs?
What I’ve built to consider these questions is an interactive robotic painting machine that uses artificial intelligence to paint its own body of work and to make its own decisions. While doing so, it listens to its environment and considers what it hears as input into the painting process. In the absence of someone or something else making sound in its presence, the machine, like many artists, listens to itself. But when it does hear others, it changes what it does just as we subtly (or not so subtly) are influenced by what others tell us.”
