So Kanno and Takahiro Yamaguchi are artists active in various fields ranging from calligraphy to graffiti, sound and device art. The two collaborated to produce SENSELESS DRAWING BOT, a graffiti-tag generator/simulator basically in the form of a motorized skateboard with a double pendulum equipped with a rotating sensor. As the skateboard base moves from side to side, the pendulum creates a dynamic movement. Triggered by kinetic energy, aerosol paint attached to the pendulum sprays colorful paint in the form of free informal lines. The strokes which result from the erratic movements of the pendulum look like traditional calligraphy when viewed from an oriental tradition, but also like modern graffiti like that within a street art performance. Graffiti created with a simple mechanical power and motion paradoxically reminds us of corporeal gestures of Pollockian existentialism. In terms of its surreal movement and black humor, the idea of a drawing machine could be said to originate with Jean Tinguely’s Meta-matics from the late 1950s. In the case of SENSELESS DRAWING BOT, however, the essence of graffiti is exposed, while the fundamental questions on how graffiti can be defined itself come to mind. Elements of extemporaneousness, the accidental as well as sub-cultural vandalism are embedded in this work, the inspiring aspect of which is a humanlike sense aroused by ‘sense-less’ mechanical movements.
