Video: Although clearly a clever artist in his own right, James Nolan Gandy shows that even the artistically-challenged can produce a masterpiece with some clever engineering. But just as impressive as Gandy’s drawing machines is this timelapse of one in action that makes it appear to draw faster than it actually moves.
What you’re seeing in this timelapse is an example of a camera’s shutter being almost perfectly in sync with the movements of the subject it’s filming. You’ve probably seen footage of helicopters flying where it looks like the rotor is barely spinning. That’s what’s happening here, but in this case the movements of the robotic doodling arm appear to be dramatically slowed in relation to the drawings it’s creating on the page.
Gandy actually showcases quite a few of his robotic doodling creations on his Instagram account, which are all equally fascinating and hypnotic to see in action, even without an optical illusion effect. Using a combination of pulleys, gears and an electric motor, Gandy’s machines produce mathematically-perfect patterns that are incredibly satisfying to see being generated. In this case, getting there is even better than the destination.
[Instagram via The Awesomer]