“Autonomous Machine” by Echo Yang

Echo Yang’s “Autonomous Machine” series uses everyday objects to generate abstract art. The automated objects include a Walkman, a wind-up clock, a hand mixer, a tin chicken, an electric shaver, and a vacuum cleaner. For the Walkman and the wind-up clock, Yang wrapped wire around a piece of charcoal or pencil lead and secured each of the “brushes” on the devices so that they would rotate like compasses. Yang set up the hand mixer in a similar fashion, so that an arm of wire and paintbrush hair would apply watercolor. The tin chicken also makes use of watercolor, dabbing the paint from a q-tip taped to its back. The chicken also paints with calligraphy ink, smearing lines on the canvas. Calligraphy ink is also the medium of choice for the electric shaver and vacuum cleaner, which ooze the deep black through their gears. A thought-provoking, potentially DIY-inspiring menagerie of older technologies, “Autonomous Machine” gives ordinary things new life.