A mechanical algorithm

The O-Pen is a user ready device designed to produce abstract art. The idea was is illustrative, mechanically, what an algorithm would look like if it were to subsist in the real world.

Open Source Software generating artworks

Underlying this installation is the questions of who should own the copyright over generated / assisted works. Whether it is via software or something physical is it really important ? Is it the programmer who made the software/hardware that generates the art piece or is it the users who actually provide the inputs necessary for output?

Legally speaking, these are difficult questions in the digital world, since most countries do not even recognize legal protection for computer-generated works. Though we truly believe that soon all the world will recognize the value of Free Culture and these questions will soon be irrelevant, in the meantime the programmer who constructed the algorithm that will subsequently generate the art work should be - at least - recognized as the originator of the piece. This is the reason why we decided to display our algorithm to the public, with all its personality and intricacy.

Further it is a representation of an open source software with all mechanical functions clearly visible and hopefully understandable. In the spirit of open source software we would like to credit all the sources of inspiration. The Harmonograph is first recorded in the 1800s. but plotting the path of a pendulum with a marking mechanism goes back to Archemides at least. Thanks humanity. Special thanks, however, to the swing-o-graph(TM) for its incredibly simple design which influenced greatly (despite appearances to the contrary). The geodesic dome/sphere was "invented" by Walther Bauersfeld and popularized by Buckminster Fuller. He is commonly thought to be the inventor and recieved a patent for it while actually only being the one to popularize to popularize the idea. If you want to make you own geodesic dome, there are lots of calculators available online, such as www.desertdomes.com The two public domain works shrowding the piece Are the work of La Fountaine and Rudyard Kipling.
Finally Special thanks to all the companies who produced the materials we have used in the creation of this machine however far we have taken the materials from their original purpose.


User input, although absolutely necessary to activate the machine, is not as such part of the creative process. Is the user actually the creator of this drawing, or is it just the executor ? Should attribution be given to us - the conceptors of the algorithm - or rather to the machine, who actually executed the drawing through its dance ? A definitive answer is difficult to give, without engaging into philosophical discussions and debating legal issues. To us, it does not really matter. We see art, not as a static artwork, but rather as a dynamic process and interactive event, that does not originate from one specific author, but rather from the contribution of several factors that are all part of the final art piece. We see ourselves as coders, or rather physical coders. Machines like programs are composed of many parts with individual functions most of which have been made by someone other than the programmer or engineer. Recognizing the inherent collaborativity of creation whether it is in the physical or digital world, we work to create things in a way that embraces the questions and contradictions of our age.