Untitled from Drawing Machine One

Name: Ragnar Digital, LLC
Price range: $

Desmond Paul Henry

1961

Machine/Robot Drawing

10"x15"

Highlights Historical Firsts The Ragnar 100

Description

In 1961, Desmond Paul Henry built what would become known as his drawing machine. Henry modified a World War II computer used to calculate the precise release of bombs by attaching a motor-driven pen arm. It worked in harmony with a moving drawing table to produce curving lines that echoed the trajectories of explosives. He constructed this machine at his home workshop in Manchester. With little to no control over the outcomes, he relied heavily on the “mechanics of chance.”

In 1961, artist Laurence Stephen Lowry visited Henry’s home and became so fascinated with his drawing machine that he suggested including some of its outputs in his exhibition at Reid Gallery in London in August 1962.

This untitled work from the first iteration of Henry’s drawing machine is a brightly colored abstract image made of repetitive lines that build upon each other. We can clearly see some lines, while others blur together and create even sheets of color.