This kinetic painting system (left in the photo below) was designed to utilize random objects in participants’ pockets as brushes for the painting.
Using a rotisserie motor and spool, long monofilament strands unwound from the spool and strung down to the canvas through eye hooks. These fanned out into the audience and stretched out into the crowd of viewers/participants at the gallery on opening night.
First, I asked people to reach into either pocket, get one object, and tie the object to the monofilament.
A comb, key, prophylactic pulled from its wrapper, movie ticket stub, and other assorted objects were tied to the monofilaments.
Eggs filled with acrylic paint were placed in a shoot and switched on the sculpture as the rotisserie motor turned a wooden gait and released eggs one by one as they shot from the black tube.
Some eggs were hit by a red rod spinning on a fan motor mounted on a metal tripod. At times the eggs were struck, drips were flung into the crowd, and other eggs shot through the spinning rod and instead broke onto the canvas with multi colors of paint dribbling down the inclined canvas.
Once all the eggs were broken, the rotisserie motor turned and wound the monofilament forward, pulling the assorted pocket brushes back over the canvas.
In the last stage of this work, the longest monofilament pulled a reservoir of sand from a channel at the edge of the canvas and flung it onto the canvas fixing the paint in place.
EXHIBITIONS
ATA Gallery San Francisco, California, where I premiered Kinetic Painting Machine