We’ve seen robots mixing drinks with Makr Shakr and now they are trying their mechanical hands at art, in the form of BNJMN, an autonomous art robot capable of producing abstract paintings.
Created by Danilo Wanner and Travis Purrington from the Basel Academy of Art and Design, BNJMN is relatively simplistic in appearance. Formed of a black box on three wheels, a roving scanner and two arms attached to paint markers.
Yet once calibrated, BNJMN needs minimal human supervision due to its sensors ability to detect paper. Once a blank sheet is identified, the machine will proceed to paint a minimalist, expressive piece of its own accord. The style is created using randomised action functions to mimic spontaneity and artificial creativity. BNJMN even signs its own name on each completed work.
While this mechanism only portrays the illusion of awareness, it raises interesting questions about the potential of art created by non-human sources.