Drawing Machine

This clip shows one of the large machine drawings in progress. For this drawing I’m using the full size CNC to make a drawing that is 39 x 50 inches. Moving up to this scale from the smaller CNC has revealed some unique phenomenon. Not only does it take considerably longer to finish, upwards of 150-200 hrs, but there are also many unique marks that are only revealed at this scale. The resulting drawing, because of it’s large scale, becomes more immersive to the viewer. It also reads well from further away and makes more use of the perceived colors created by the overlapping horizontal lines. Stop by The Press Hotel to see this drawing and more in the real. @thepresshotel #machinevision

MACHINE VISION

As technologies escalate and expand surveillance capabilities they dictate how we perceive and act simultaneously. We are witnessing the creation of a post-human vision that incorporates both the visible and invisible spectrums. This interminable vision has given us a false sense of control and institutes a union of the real and the virtual. Our current state of anxiety, insecurity and unease propels us to amplify our pursuit of more expansive autonomous systems that act on the immediacy of both actual and manufactured data. The reality of horror is deferred through the sterile views produced by this technology. Acting as global deterrents, these systems perpetuate an endless feedback loop suggesting the eventual breakdown of control, and ultimately, the decay of information itself.

These drawings are the culmination of a multidisciplinary process and a complex translation of my ideas. I’m using a CNC router as a drawing machine to create  images that blur the boundaries between contemporary technologies, photography and the traditions of drawing. Made entirely out of horizontal lines these intricate landscapes appear digitized and contain glitches and artifacts of the process which clearly reference interlaced video and the aesthetic of surveillance. Revealed within these ruinous worlds are the technologies of surveillance and communications juxtaposed with the weapons and systems related to global conflicts past and present. This visual combination speaks to the tensions between what we find beautiful and what terrifies us.

Missile Defenses, Landscape 013