Paint Bot  interactive robot installation, Michael Erzen

Michael Erzen, who struggled with blindness until age ten, presents two robotic installations exploring the relationship between sight and altered perception that originated from his own experience.  The "Paint Bot" draws abstract patterns of images on a huge canvas based on what the robot sees through his electronic eyes at the gallery space.  The other piece "Installation Bot" continuously rearranges pieces of small Styrofoam in a limited space by visitors' vocal commands.  These robots symbolize the artist himself, and the entire installation successfully illustrates the dynamics between the being and his surrounding.  by Byeong Sam Jeon

This painting robotic sculpture creates abstract images based upon the input from its environment via a pair of photo- sensitive "eyes".  The experimentation with the eye configurations and how it effects the machine's painting ability mimics the artists own struggle with blindness up until age 10 -- and how it affected his own art making.

This project can paint directly onto a wall or large canvas in a gallery space.  The machine moves back and forth along its aluminum track -- painting with its sponge brush "fingers" s it goes.  When additional paint is required, the machine travels to the end of its track -- dips the sponges into cans of paint -- then returns to where the mark -- making left off.

Biography:

My work explores the range of our senses and how the world is interpreted by the human brain.  My work currently examines a variety of altered perceptions.  I am always amazed at how when we document or interpret our world through our modern technologies, we can see both good and bad altered solutions to a problem when those technologies break down and give us an unexpected outcome.

As a kinetic sculptor, my artistc practice combines found objects or mechanisms with traditional materials to create conceptual or figurative work that explores the human condition.  By using robotics or automated systems, I explore the human condition, using these machines as surrogates for ourselves, so that we might catch a fleeting glimpse at the unexpected side of art and life as we know it.