Kanji ‘日本’ (Japan)

Name: Ragnar Digital, LLC
Price range: $

Tokico ARMSTAR Painting Robot

1982

Machine/Robot Drawing

20.25"x15.75"

Portfolio

Description

This calligraphic painting was executed by the Tokico Armstar, an industrial painting robot fitted with an articulating servo arm and a wrist capable of vertical, horizontal and rotational movements. The Armstar took pride of place at the Japanese Pavilion of the 1982 Knoxville World’s Fair, painting charmingly gestural moons, doves, kanji signs, and other symbols for visitors. Its blue, six-axis manipulator dipped a bamboo brush in ink before acting out a pre-programmed stroke sequence, with the resulting sheet fed through a slot to the waiting crowd. Some drawings also include personalized dedications in colored type. Bridging centuries-old Japanese sumi-e aesthetics with cutting-edge robotics, the Armstar’s production coincided with Japan’s industrial automation boom of the 1980s. Subsequent models released by Tokico would serve as spray-painting robots in factories worldwide.

Peace Dove Tokico ARMSTAR Painting Robot 1982 Machine/Robot Drawing

Crescent Moon Face Tokico ARMSTAR Painting Robot 1982 Machine/Robot Drawing

Sun Sphere Logo Tokico ARMSTAR Painting Robot 1982 Machine/Robot Drawing

1982 World's Fair Japanese Pavilion “Painting… Tokico ARMSTAR Painting Robot 1982 Machine/Robot Drawing

Computer-Musik: Vertonung im Zeitalter der… Various Artists 1982 Music/Sound

Androgyny (6 Women + 6 Men) Nancy Burson 1982 Photograph

People 2 George W. Hart 1982 Plotter Drawing

Spirales Carrées 1982/1984, sin_d1 Pierre Braun 1982 Plotter Drawing