5 Pauls drawing Sonja

source: highlike

Work: About the 5 Pauls installation:

“5 Robots Named Paul” is an installation where the human becomes an actor. In a scene reminiscent of a life drawing class, the human takes the sitter’s role to be sketched by 5 robots. When the subject arrives by appointment, he is seated in an armchair. An assistant pins sheets of paper on to the robots’ desks and wakes each one up, twisting its arm or knocking three times.
The robots, stylised minimal artists, are only capable of drawing obsessively. Their bodies are old school desks on which the drawing paper is pinned. Their left arms, bolted on the table, holding black biros, are only able to draw. The robots, named Paul, each look alike except for their eyes, either obsolete digital cameras, or low-res webcams. Each eye focuses on the subject or looks at the drawing in progress.
The drawing sessions last up to 40 minutes during which time the human cannot see the drawings in progress. The sitter only sees the robots alternating between observing and drawing, sometimes pausing. The sounds produced by each robot’s motors creates an improvised soundtrack. The sitter is in an ambivalent position, at the mercy of the robots’ scrutiny, but also an object of artistic attention. As the model in a life drawing class, the human is personality-less, an object of study. The human sitter is passive, the robots take the creative sensitive role. Although immobile, the model is active in keeping the pose, and for the spectator the sitter is an integral part of the installation.
Paul was originally developed by Tresset to palliate a debilitating painter’s block. This could be seen as creative prosthetics or behavioral self-portraits. Even if the way Paul draws is based on Tresset’s technique, its style is not a pastiche of Tresset’s own but rather an interpretation influenced by the robot’s characteristics. The drawings, often perceived as works of arts by the public, drawing practitioners and amateurs, progressively cover the gallery’s walls, day after day.
The installation was produced by Illuminate Productions for the Merge festival 2012 with the support of Tate Modern, Arts Council England, Neo Bankside, Better Bankside.

Short bio:

Patrick Tresset is a French artist and scientist who investigates human artistic activity, computational creativity and our relation to machines, in particular our relations with robotic entities. In the context of his art practice, Patrick uses robotics to create autonomous robotic entities that are evocative representations of the artist, and in a certain manner a representation of himself. His robots are based on advanced technologies using research findings from robotics, computer vision, artificial intelligence and cognitive computing.
Patrick encountered and practiced computing, painting, drawing and sculpture from an early age in France. Following a degree in Business Computing, he migrated to London to become a painter. Between 1991 and 2003 his work was exhibited in solo and group shows in London and Paris. In 2003, Patrick lost his ability to paint and draw, and has since been working on computational and robotic systems that are able to simulate these artistic activities.
Patrick’s research led him to join Goldsmiths, University of London, to study for a Master of Sciences in Arts Computing, and until 2013 he co-directed the AIkon-II project with Prof. Frederic Fol Leymarie. The AIkon-II project investigated the observational sketching activity through computational modeling and robotics. Patrick also created the creative robotics course taught to post-graduate students at Goldsmiths as part of the MFA Computational Arts programme. In 2013, Patrick was a senior fellow at the Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz in Germany and is currently a visiting research fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom.
The robots he develops are influenced by research into human behaviour, more specifically how human beings artistically depict other humans, how humans perceive artworks and how humans relate to robots. The artifacts produced by these computational systems can also be considered as studies of the human.
As a researcher he has published academic papers in the fields of artificial intelligence, computational aesthetics, computational creativity, social robotics, drawing research, digital arts and computer graphics.
Patrick’s work has been internationally exhibited in solo and group shows, in association with major museums such as The Pompidou Center (Paris), Victoria & Albert Museum (London), Science Museum (London), Tate Modern (London), and art fairs such as London Art Fair, Kinetica Art Fair and Istanbul biennial.
Patrick’s work has been featured in major media including The Times (UK), The Independent (UK), The Telegraph (UK), Le Monde (FR), New Scientist (UK), El Mundo (SP), L’Oeil (FR), Tank Magazine (UK) as well as on radio programs, and Internet media worldwide.
Image: 2012, photo by Tommo.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
source: docgoldacuk

Patrick Tresset is a French artist-scientist that investigates human artistic activities and our relation to machines in particular our relations with robotic entities. In the context of his art practice, Patrick uses what he calls “clumsy robotics” to create autonomous entities that are cybernetic representations of the artist, and in a certain manner representation of himself. His robots are based on advanced technologies using research findings from computer vision, artificial intelligence and cognitive computing.

Patrick encountered and practiced computing, painting, drawing and sculpture from an early age in France. Following a degree in Business Computing, Patrick migrated to London to become a painter. Between 1991 and 2003 his work was exhibited in solo and group shows in London and Paris. In 2003 Patrick lost his ability to paint and draw, he has since been working on computational and robotic systems that are able to draw.

This research has led him to join Goldsmiths, University of London, to study for a Master of Sciences in Arts Computing. Until 2013 he co-directed the AIkon-II project with Prof. Frederic Fol Leymarie. The AIkon-II project investigated the observational sketching activity through computational modeling and robotics and is in part funded by a 3.5 year research grant from the Leverhulme Trust. Patrick also created the creative robotics course taught to post-graduate students in the computing department at Goldsmiths. Patrick is currently a Senior fellow at the Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz in Germany and a visiting research fellow at Goldsmiths University of London, United Kingdom.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
source: mergefestivalcouk

Patrick Tresset, a French artist/scientist currently based in London, presented 6 robots in a site-specific artist’s studio. Gallery visitors were able to have their portrait sketched by 6 of Tresset’s robots. Each robot would draw the sitter from a different point of view; the drawings would then make up the exhibition in the space. The public could pre-book a slot to come and sit for a portrait. The robots also drew all the artists and musicians involved in the festival to create a special exhibition.

For Tresset, his cybernetic face-sketcher does not pretend to be human. It is only an obsessive drawing entity. It has “eyes” linked to an artificial mind, which imperfectly simulates a small part of Tresset’s abilities.

Its singular drawing arm has limited freedom of gestures, which makes it only able to apply simple tracing actions. Yet, it is capable of displaying attention and purpose when focusing on a sitter or their image and drawing their portraits in a style akin to Tresset’s own.

Patrick is currently a researcher at Goldsmiths University, London where he co-directs the AIkon-II project with Frederic Fol Leymarie. This project was in part funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

Patrick has exhibited his robotic artworks in New York, France, Istanbul, Malta, Milan as well as in several museums and locations in London, including Tenderpixel gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum, Science Museum, The London Art fair, Kinetica Art Fair 2012.

A sketch by Paul is part of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s collections.