Previous to David’s painting career, he worked in the German automobile industry. It was in 2009 that he made the dramatic career change and as been creating impressive monochrome and watercolor paintings ever since. David’s story is similar to many others, with one notable exception: David is a robot.
e-David Robot Painting from eDavid on Vimeo.
DAVID THE PAINTING ROBOT
e-David – David standing for Drawing Apparatus for Vivid Image Displays – is a painting robot conceived by the University of Konstanz, in Germany. Willing to determine the extent to which a machine could reproduce the creative process of painting, the university’s research team equipped an industrial robot with a camera, a software and painting supplies. Voila! David – the painting robot – was born. Using five different brush strokes and a 24-color palette, David creates incredibly precise art pieces based on pictures taken with its camera.
What differentiates David from any photocopier or industrial robot? David does not require directions and instead makes “his” own decisions based on visual optimization. David is able to adapt his technology according to what he perceives through its camera and can correct mistakes accordingly.
BUT, IS THIS ART?
Should painters be truly concerned by this new competitor? The intention behind the creation of David is not for robots to artistically surpass us, but to learn more about techniques human painters use in their process. David’s algorithm could, for instance, contribute to fraud detection by enabling us to chronologically study the artistic technique of famous painters.
Can painting really be reduced to technique? Is David even doing art? We do think there is more than technique in painting. Nonetheless, the way David signs the canvas with its name and removes the excess of paint from its brush feels strangely… human.
The post e-David – The Painting Robot. appeared first on Twelve 21 Gallery.