When Code Reached the Paper

I prepared the machine with a marker and constant pressure. Everything seemed to be working until it started drawing some letters. They were completely distorted. The problem was not in the software but in a mechanical joint on the Y axis that was not stable enough. The machine was still moving, but not quite as it should. An unexpected deviation that could have a certain interest, though certainly not what I wanted from that test.

In another of the early tests, I chose a brush and a simpler image. This time, it worked. Seeing something I had spent days developing on a computer finally appear on paper was exciting. I had devoted many hours to the software, and suddenly it was all starting to come together and become a real drawing.

The result, however, was different from what I had seen on screen. Lines very close to one another lost definition and the accumulation of marks acquired another character. I was not disappointed; something I had not anticipated had simply appeared.

For a later test, I used Chinese ink heavily diluted with water, looking for fine lines and a very subtle image. What I had not taken into account were the properties of the paper. It was too thin for so much moisture and began to warp, especially in areas where the brush passed repeatedly.

Those ripples altered the height of the surface and, although the machine always carried out the same movements, the brush's contact with the paper changed. Lines of different thicknesses appeared without the program introducing any variation.

I found it particularly interesting to discover that new layer of chance. An accident I had not anticipated which, rather than necessarily ruining the image, could contribute something to the result.

These first tests made me understand how much the behavior of tools and materials can change a composition. A pencil wears down, a brush needs to be loaded with ink again, and the paper itself changes as one works on it. These are variables that can hardly be resolved on a screen alone.

Many of the questions I want to continue exploring with KIKAIMA X MICHI come from this experience, both to develop new ways of drawing and to prepare for the future execution of KIKAIMA X SUMI compositions.

In the end, the most interesting part of that first experience was not simply getting the machine to draw, but discovering how many things could happen between the instructions and the paper.