drawing machines #4 #19

These drawing machines are a variation on the 'turtle' graphics that Seymour Papert (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_graphics) added to the Logo programming language in the 1960s. The machines leave a trace on the canvas as they move along, and have only a very limited set of instructions: 'move forward', 'turn left or right', 'draw rectangle' and 'change linewidth'. When they 'collide' against the edge of the canvas, they perform a random turn, so that at least they won't get stuck. The machines in this version get a new set of instructions at random intervals.

This work was inspired by the late Remko Scha, with whom I worked at the Institute of Artificial Art in Amsterdam as 'director of automatic expressionism'. in the 1990s. You can find his legacy here: www.remkoscha.nl and specifically the archive of the IAAA is here: www.remkoscha.nl/iaaa