eske rex: drawing machine
‘drawing machine’ by eske rex
two towers weighted with pendulums create elaborate ink spirograph images in ‘drawing machine’, by swedish-born, copenhagen-based designer eske rex, on display at the mindcraft 11 exhibit of danish craft during milan design week 2011.
a departure from the renaissance interest in pendulums and the harmonographs of the mid-19th century, the device is composed of two nine-foot (2.7m) tall pyramidal structures, from the center of each of which is suspended a weighted pendulum. the weight of the pendulums can be adjusted to up to 165 pounds (75kg), by adding and removing slotted concrete disks that are otherwise stored along the base of the towers. more weight produces smaller circles on the paper, while less weight enables a greater swing of the pendulum and thus larger circles.
once set into motion by hand, the pendulums, linked together at the site of the pen, continue in motion from the transfer one another’s kinetic energy. the images produced can range up to nine feet by nine feet in size, and can be produced with any ink pen, in either monochrome or multicolour by switching pens in and out during the production process.
for milan design week, rex planned to let the machine run continuously to produce a single image each day, stopping it only to swap pens in and out. he confessed to having thousands of pens on hand for potential use over the six days of the exhibition.
video of ‘drawing machine’ at work
‘drawing machine’ on exhibition during milan design week 2011
image © designboom
four of the finished images
detail view on a produced image
image © designboom
the machine at work
image © designboom
closer view of the pen and writing arms
image © designboom
the pieces can be produced in one or many colours, by switching out the pen
image at right © designboom
view of the pendulum and writing arm
image © designboom
the weighted disks can be swapped in and out to affect the size of the circles drawn; when not in use they hang on the base of the tower
image © designboom
detail view of the weights and pendulum
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incredible!!!
beautiful idea! beautiful execution!
they’re all drawings of earth’s gravitational pull; ingenious!
LOVE IT!!!
Wow! very interesting, esp. when the moment of two pendulums collided.. it creates different pen pressure..
beautiful!