Chronokinematograph

The visual inspiration for this project was from chronophotography, the practice of capturing a moving subject at regular time intervals by using long exposure and a strobe. This creates a multi-layered image that shows motion in its phases. One notable artist using this technique was Etienne-Jules Marey, his works had the most impact on our work.

Our goal was to somehow visualize the complex relation between time and movement. This problem interested many philosophers throughout history, such as Zenon, Henri Bergson or Gilles Deleuze.

We followed the idea that the common denominator between motion and time is change itself. Our robot looks through its camera-eyes and captures the changes it sees in the video feed. When the motion stops the robot starts to draw. For the spectator making a gesture is a momentary experience, but for the robot it is a much-much longer time to draw the representing figure. With this we create tension between two timelines and two different kinds of movements.

We had limited experience with using an Arduino board and an even smaller experience with 3D printing so these new technologies were very exciting to explore.

We have learned to integrate the Arduino board into TouchDesigner. And to use the 3D printers in the lab, as well as some basic 3D design principles that can help when developing products for 3D printing.

We are currently waiting for some crucial parts to arrive from Amazon so we can finish assembling the drawing machine part of the project. This design is an open source project by DIY Machines, that we modified a bit. The TouchDesigner programming part of the project is ready to use but it has to be tested with the assembled drawing machine itself too. The 3D printed parts are done for the build, the only things stopping us from finishing this project are the missing parts that did not arrive in time.

Doing the final assembly of the parts and testing the timings for the optimal performance.