"Jackson" referring to "Pollock." Topher McFarland, an engineering student at Washington University, made headlines earlier this week when his robot, aptly titled, sorta-kinda recreated the work of the world's most famous splatter painter.
This is how it works: McFarland flips a switch and the robot sucks up paint through a tube. The next command, "sends the robot into a spastic dance, " says St. Louis Today, making the robot squirt paint all over its canvas. Action's paintings come in red, white, or black and are similar to Pollock's in that the splatters reach laterally across the cardboard. Although, to see the similarity, St. Louis Today suggests squinting.
McFarland will take his robotic artist to SIGGRAPH in August with two new colors and more motion. You might want to jump in and buy one now; $10 a painting is not bad for an original.
[photo: St. Louis Today]
