AUTOMATIC FORM

Automation pervades our life. Automation is a mechanical or electrical process where the next action to take is based on data from the previous action with minimal human input. Our cars won’s run and our factories won’t manufacture without automation.

Automation has also shaped the art world. Artists using automation dream of a piece that completes itself with minimal human input. Automation has been applied to writing, drawing, music, etc. The act of letting the pencil make marks on the page with little conscious control has been part of our cultural tool kit for centuries.

Automatically putting marks on paper means that the conscious mind is turned off as much as possible. Instead, the subconscious is allowed to roam free. It is akin to a Zen state in which your rational, logical mind is turned off. And with any luck, the marks or words or notes that you output are fresh and exciting. With any luck, you knowledge in a way that you did not think was possible. In short, it can get you out of your rut. It has even been given a scientific edge: it has been categorized as a type of motor automatism, or unconscious muscular activity: see Blood and Gristle.

One mode of automation is called automatic writing. Written words are put on the paper without consciously writing them. Religious mystics have and continue to use it. Authors use it. Musicians use it. Historical records show it was used at least as early at the 16th C.

Another mode is called automatic drawing. This was developed by the surrealists, and one of the prime contributors is André Masson. In automatic drawing, the hand moves across the page with little conscious input. Because these lines are generated by the subconscious, unexpected shapes and arrangements are output. In fact, the surrealists abandoned representation completely while under the spell of automatic drawing.

This even resulted in the creation of a manifesto called Refus Global. A principal author, Paul-Émile Borduas, sought to trigger North America to revise their cultural beliefs in light of the newly uncovered universal values and ethics now possible with automatic drawing. In short, revolution was in the air.

So why not Automatic Form.

If we have automatic writing and automatic drawing, why not Automatic Form? This is to ask, can a mode of drawing be established that provides for the means of automatic, resolved form creation? And will this drawing mode achieve our goal of fresh and interesting forms? Can our subconscious be harnessed with Automatic Form? The answer on all counts, as you might expect, is an emphatic yes

I hope that the drawing at the top communicates the freedom and the energy that I felt as I used this new mode. With the autonomous lines that you draw, a resolved three dimensional form starts to suggest itself. The forms start to suggest and reveal themselves as you put more marks on the paper. And this resolved form was not premeditated or pre visualized. It simply was suggested / shaped / formed / extruded / sculpted from the lines I was putting on my paper in response to the lines that I had previously put on my paper. So there was a great deal of autonomy, at least more than I have ever felt while drawing. And simultaneously, there was a great deal of control.

Automation, as is stated in the first sentence above, is a primary cultural driver. Every technological advancement includes an automation component. With Automatic Form, we now have a 100% analogue (nothing digital) mode with which to generate fresh, exciting and resolved enclosures and forms.

I have developed a four step process for Automatic Form. I call the steps Shape, Projection, Assimilation and Resolution. These steps will be visualized in within the next few pages. Please stay tuned!