Kelc – LookingOutwards03

Harvey Moon – Bugs Draw For Me

I wanted to explore artist Harvey Moon for my project simply because I was most interested by his drawing machines, namely the one which was controlled by an insect (linked below). After writing about the problem of authenticity addressed in the Lanier’s article, I think this piece expands what I considered the possibilities of robot art and further challenges this authenticity. The tool is now man-made but animal controlled– what other living or nonliving elements can an artist use as a means to instruct a machine? How does the person, animal, or force controlling the robot influence the meaning, impact, and authenticity of the resulting drawing? This piece alone has a very great balance of randomization and instruction in terms of its effective complexity; the insect’s movements are unpredictable and random to US, yet the machine and the resulting drawings have a sort of pattern to them. What I additionally find great about this piece is that the artist has minimal involvement with the resulting process. Nothing innately personalized or stylized comes out of this piece other than the drawing machine itself, which has now been overruled by the creative prowess of the fly it follows. The whole project challenges and pushes the boundary of what can be considered artwork.