92-13

Name: Ragnar Digital, LLC
Price range: $

Tony Robbin

1992

Plotter Drawing

Plotter drawing and water color

Description

Tony Robbin has spent his career exploring the possibility of representing the fourth dimension. Associated with the Pattern and Decoration movement, which emphasized repetition and surface design, he expressed these ideas mainly through painting. 92-13 and 92-16 are rare examples of him exploring this approach through plotter drawings created with custom software.

These drawings belong to a group of plotter works made in the early 1990s, featuring networks of intersecting lines from which volumes emerge. Robbin applied watercolor paint to certain areas, adding depth and spatial emphasis to the works, so that some planes appear to cast shadows across others. In 92-13, the limited use of color keeps the emphasis on the linework, while in 92-16, the added color shifts attention to the shapes themselves. While the balance shifts from lines to color, the plotter drawings reflect Robbin’s interest in the computer’s potential to map out new geometries.