james nolan gandy’s drawing machines produce intricate geometric artworks

drawing machinist james nolan gandy creates mechanical parts and movements for a variety of wood and metal machines that produce intricate, multi-color artworks. completely analogue, the drawings are created using a variety of pens, pulleys and gears, that together generate geometric pieces somewhere between mesmerizing spirographs and moiré patterns. all images courtesy of james nolan gandy

gandy, who grew up in northeast florida, gained the knowledge to create his drawing machines by making custom furniture for a living for almost 20 years, before he started to work with metal more than five years ago. his artworks are produced in a purely mechanical, analogue way, without the use of any digital means, but with the interaction between human and machine. though the relatively-simple machine constructions can operate almost completely autonomously, gandy needs to pause the machine and interfere when he wants to change the drawing’s color.

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artist: james nolan gandy