by Antoine Mercure & Hugo Desmeules
Introduction
AbstractPaintingUnit (aka APU) is a self-contained robotic abstract painting artist. APU senses and interprets the changes in its environment and expresses its computational processes by spraypainting different colors in infinite patterns on big sheets of paper layed on the floor. The audience plays an integral role in the composition of the paintings as their presence and actions influence the painting process by affecting the sensor data that APU continually collects. APU is activaly sensing presence, movement, light intensity and ambient sound amplitude. APU's body is made mostly from recycled materials. Its former purpose was a plotter printer for an architect.
Antoine and Hugo were Concordia students when APU proto1 was created. Now they both moved on with their lives but still collaborate on improving APU's perceptions and artistic abilities. The 3rd prototype of APU will soon be ready for a public performance this summer.
APU(proto2) performed on may 4th 2006 for Exposed @ Concordia
Protoype 2
APU has been equipped with a 4 color spraypainting rack (Red, blue, yellow, black). The main microcontroller has been changed for the Wiring platform (http://wiring.org.co) to give our project more possibilities.The power supply has been mounted directly on the chassis. The sensor mapping will be further developped. Color tests will be done. We installed smaller paint tubes to increase the pressure in order to get better results.
Artistic statement
Antoine and Hugo worked together on several new media projects in the past (mojoysticks, digital turntable) and are now uniting once again in order to produce a robot that aims to become an independant painter artist. With this installation, we aim to challenge the superiority of man over machine in Arts by studying and questionning certain stereotypical social roles that are attributed to man and machines.
Most if not all robotic painting machines ever built are dictated what to paint by its manly creator. We want to give APU the ability to surpass its masters by allowing it to improvise according to its interpretations of its surroundings. We want APU to become our master as our new role will be reduced to suppplying APU with Power and paint while he creates abstract paintings.
(Prototype 1)