R.A.D.

Sure, you've heard of CAD but now we have RAD (Robot Aided Drawing). Jen Hui Liao has designed and built the Self Portrait Machine to assist the sitter with drawing themselves. The machine "takes a picture of the sitter and draws it but with the model's help. The wrists of the individual are tied to the machine and it is his or her hands that are guided to draw the lines that will eventually form the portrait." Ok, so you may be asking, "So, what's the point?!" This may help explain:

The project aims to explore the cooperation process of human & machine. The designer explains: I found some the relationship between human and machine are amazing and could be horrible (like this one that shows how we human invent machines then put human inside to it to manufacture goods), The final object - A machine is a miniature of what I understand through the process of research, and the aim of the machine is to let people have a chance to feel the condensed process of how we generate our self identity from external point of view as from the society, which is a big machine we all in.

You can read more about the project >HERE<

Momma's Boy

Memory power + drawing

I don't know why I didn't post this sooner but it came to mind since my trip to Japan. (don't worry...you'll see some of the pics soon) It's a video showing the artist, Stephen Wiltshire, drawing a 360º panoramic view of Tokyo..from memory! This is amongst the most impressive things I've ever seen done with a pen or brush. Yes, even more impressive than elephants painting or seeing HeavyWeight artists painting or that video by Blu.If you've seen aerial pictures of Tokyo or have seen how insane this challenge is you can start to realize how amazing this is...if not, just watch and you'll see what I'm talking about. Hint: most of the best artists in the world could not do this if the could see what they were drawing. Oh, and keep in mind this is with ink (no erasing).