After our successful result with using a slinky to create art, we decided to continue using steps as an aspect of our art machines. Instead of a slinky this time we decided to use what stairs are made for… people. We wanted to visually record the process of walking up and down stairs. So, we painted our boots in paint and walked down a sheet of paper stuck to the stairs, below are the results.
Originally we were just going to walk down the stairs but instead we decided to walk up and down until the paint on our boots ran out. This way you get a sense of a passage of time.
This piece was interesting to make however the results were fully expected with no pleasant surprises. We felt fully in control of the mark making which took away the idea of the art machine being the one in control. However, I think it still falls under the brief of art machines as an art machine can be described as the assemblage of human and non human parts working together. The stairs themselves were the machine as the steps work together to perform the task of getting a person from A to B. If we had just laid the paper on flat ground and walked along it, it would have had an entirely different result.
Watching the video back, I also noticed how me and Natalia both stepped at the same time with the same legs. In this way our brains almost become machines as they subconsciously dictate our every move. We are both right body dominant so naturally we stepped with our right feet first.