Download the Fotron2000 one sheet here.
Images -> Gallery 1. Gallery 2.
The Fotron2000 is tomorrow's answer to today's mall photo booth. At its heart is a robotic sketch artist whose medium is LED light and whose canvas is long exposed Polaroid film. The robot draws quickly, rendering a line drawing of its subject which he or she gets to keep. The Fotron2000 "brings good things to light."
This work was inspired by the classic time-lapse nighttime highway photography, the Photoshop "glowing edges" filter, and "drawing" with sparklers. The piece is a simple exploration of the ability of a robot and a computer to automate the creation of art. We are interested in the ability to provide visitors with a permanent record of their experience and engage robotic technology in an impractical way. The robot provides us with precision capabilities beyond our own, allowing us to create in ways not possible without technological assistance.
Automation has been a way to bring goods and services to a greater number of people and increase the accessibility of products. The 20th century saw automation become an integral part of the progress and evolution of fields as diverse as automobiles and agriculture. Automation found its way into the art world as a way of reproducing and documenting original works. We are interested in automating the process of creating individual custom masterpieces. The Fotron2000 explores a robot's ability to create works of art. Various individual sections of the piece provide character to the final product and experience. The industrial metal sided booth could be at home on a factory floor but the inside, with the working bill validator, is reminiscent of a video arcade. The computer vision software extracts simple contours to represent the visitor. Depending on the lighting and the visitor’s hair color and skin tone, the lines will range from a realistic portrait to a completely abstract representation. Finally the imperfections of the robot arm movement and the warm glow of the LEDs on the Polaroid film provides each visitor with a unique work of art for the price of a beer in the city. We think that is progress.
Fotron2000 has been shown at ArtExpo2004 at the Javits Center in New York City, ArtBots at Eyebeam Gallery and Collision at the MIT Compton Gallery.
Images from the Artbots show can be seen here.
Images from the ArtExpo show can be seen here.
the fotron2000 team is jessica banks, jackbackrack(jonathan bachrach) and daniel paluska.
send email to
thecrew AT fotron2000 DOT com
thanks to larry and don at polaroid, jeff weber, aaron edsinger and henry kaufman.