I’ve always wanted to bring my digital work into the physical world. Prints never felt right, experimented with a photo printer, maybe too clean, sterile, something missing.
For about five years now, I’ve been eyeing pen plotters. I first discovered them when I moved to the UK, which was the wrong time to invest into specialized tools. No time or space. But eventually you have to think when is the right time for anything?
When I look back at my earliest work, especially in TouchDesigner, there’s this thread. Fine, delicate lines. Almost fragile. Ethereal. I keep circling back to geometry, simple shapes stacked into something bigger. Its almost like a digital sculpture. Building up hundreds or thousands of lines into more complex forms.
The work evolved, often pushed by algorithm, fear of being missed, a deviation from what Id rather create. But would that thrive in the endless scroll? That tension is part of why I need to create physical artwork. Nothing drains motivation more than posting online and watching your work vanish into obscurity.
I don’t want to chase attention, it’s not what my work is about, nor what most art is about. The more time I spend in studios and galleries, the more I realize how pointless social media is as aprimary showcase. At best, it should be a redundant archive. Maybe that’s a rant for another time.
Much of my work feels half done. You create with some sort of presentation in mind, but if it cant be held, hung on a way, is it complete? The plotter feels like a way to make my practice make sense again, to create a sort of coherence to my work.
My process already involved this interplay between myself and the computer, sometimes using physics engines or lighting tools, somewhat organic, which lend some uncertainty to the outcome. Bringing in the extra component of a drawing machine is a natural progression. I’ll choose the pens, brushes, paints, pigments, papers, and program the machine to draw in a specific path. But its also inviting a new layer of collaboration, error and imperfection.
So I ordered the Uunatek iDraw H SE A3. I’ve looked at so many machines over the years. This one seems like a good starting point. I’m not up for building my own at this time, there will be enough of a learning curve as it is. For now I want a tool that works. We’ll see where this goes.