Can you teach a machine to paint Jackson Pollock? More precisely: Can the 3D print the special techniques of the Pollock to print complex forms quickly and precisely?
According to a group of researchers from the Harvard University, it is possible. They have combined artificial intelligence and physical principles develop innovative 3D printing technique
Although your main goal is not to create a pollock-like pressure using computer algorithms, you strive to produce complex shapes at a faster pace.
Pollock and its unique Drip-Paint technology
Pollock was known to a famous representative of abstract expressionism and above all for his Drip-Paint technology (also action painting ). Instead of applying color with a brush, he let it drip it on his works from above or threw them over the canvas over a large area.
image source: FreePik
This process is pretty much the opposite of the 3D printing, in which the material to be printed is to be applied to a millimeter precise and from a shortest distance layer by layer to avoid instabilities.
Harvard researchers combine physics and machine learning to use Pollock's Drip-Paint technology for a quick and precise 3D printing
The challenge for the Harvard research team around the Indian-American mathematician and biologist Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan was all the greater.
I wanted to know if you can imitate Jackson Pollock and develop what he did ”,
Comment L. Mahadevan , the Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (Seas). , and professor of organisms and evolutionary biology as well as for physics at the Faculty of Arts and Natural Sciences (FAS). The renowned researcher is also head of the Soft Math Lab in Harvard.
Mahadevan and his team ( combined physics and mechanical learning to develop 3D printing technique replica of a section of a pollock painting- by using the same natural fluid instability that Pollock has used in his work.
Research was published in Soft Matter .
Algorithm decodes Jackson Pollock and the fluid dynamics of viscous materials
The mathematical calculation of the behavior of a liquid substrate under movement and gravity was a challenging task. The goal was to give the 3D printer appropriate instructions based on these calculations.
However, it was anything but easy because there were many variables such as density, viscosity and height that had to be taken into account. An essential source of inspiration was earlier work by Mahadevan on the fluid dynamics of honey . reporting from Heise Online, this research explained , among other things, how Jackson Pollock was able to specifically apply its color despite his apparently chaotic method.
the fully developed printer in Action-Painting - in the following video:
Results close gap in modern 3D and 4D printing processes
Modern 3D and 4D printing processes avoid the problem of unstable fluid flow by positioning the nozzle at a slight distance to the surface and moving along a defined path from point A to point B, explains the research team.
This approach works well, but due to the need to apply ink or other printing materials on every point in the path, the process may be slow. In addition, the proximity of the nozzle to the surface of creative scope is restricted, since natural fluid instabilities do not have to be accepted and avoided.
Pollock's approach to throw color from great height meant that even if his hand moved in a certain trajectory, the color of this trajectory did not follow due to the gravity acceleration ”,”
explains Gaurav Chaudhary . The former postdoctoral of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the main author of the study emphasized the importance of this technology in an interview:
Even a minor movement can lead to considerable color splashes. By using this method, it is possible to print longer distances than you could actually move because gravity ensures free acceleration. ”
This innovation thus enables greater flexibility in the pressure process.
To what extent the researchers or participants will now use the developed printing technology to design their own art in the style of Pollock and thus compete with his artistic heritage ... 😉
Owner and managing director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor and passionate blogger in the field of art, design and creativity since 2011. Successful conclusion in web design as part of a university degree (2008). Further development of creativity techniques through courses in free drawing, expression painting and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market through many years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with actors/institutions from art and culture.
