Travel point
An experimental work. Analysis of how different vehicles move, by letting a pen (liner) freely move on a paper. A piece of paper performs a moving platform, on which the pen leaves an unintentional (but influenced by diverse external factors) ink trace. As a result, usually after 1,5-2 hours, a drawing appears and this drawing evokes our consciousness to look for some familiar shapes in it. Drawings are being created in a hard cover book (format A3). There are 110 pages in that book: 100 pages for the drawings, 10 pages for the description of the experiment (pages may not be added or replaced). Each time the following information is notified: vehicle, location, route, date, general time, technique and any thoughts/ remarks, that occur during that particular process.
“A line is a dot that went for a walk.”
Every time this dot is going on an exciting journey. The person, who is drawing, looks out of the window, into the sky, to the horizon line, watches the cars and buses passing by, which, as well as the dot, are traveling. This moving dot in some way resembles life itself: the main purpose is to prolong your existence, not quitting, searching for the way and staying in the rights place, not going too far beyond the limits. It is exciting to watch the dot moving across the paper, to see where it will go next, what line and then drawing it will create. Inanimate, uncontrolled, thoughtless lines generate animate shapes.
Different factors, that influence, how the pen/ liner moves:
- Who is driving and the driving habits (man/ woman; young/ old; calm/ impulsive)
- How the hand is placed (keeping the liner centered or more on the side, press it to the paper or letting it barely touch the paper, fill in the empty spots or leave them blank)
- The mood of the one, who is drawing
- The route and the road
Three components of the experiment:
1. Vehicle: City bus, Trolleybus, Intercity bus, Tram, Metro, Train, Truck, Car, Bicycle, Plane, Cable car, Small cars in an amusement park, Yacht, Ferry, Security service car.
2. Instrument: Liner, Color pen, Charcoal (burnt and pressed).
3. Technique: The majority of the drawings was made, when regularly sitting in a vehicle seat. Book/ paper placed on the lap, hand keeps the liner vertically. Paper placed vertically, liner perpendicularly. Paper placed horizontally, from time to time rotating the paper 90 degrees. Paper placed vertically on a belly, liner pointing to the drawing person. Standing in the vehicle, not holding to the handrails. Paper in one hand, liner in the other.
Thoughts and notes occurred, when drawing:
1. If to listen to the music, when you are drawing, the liner lets go the rhythm of the vehicle and adjusts to the rhythm of music. (drawing № 12)
2. In a Warsaw underground train a man came up and asked:
- Excuse me, what are you doing? (in Polish)
I showed him the drawings, explaining: this was a bus, that was in a tram, etc. This is such an experiment (in English)
- Is it graphics or something different?
- Kind of experiment… (shrugging shoulders).
He went through the wagon and took a seat a bit further from mine. After a while, exiting on the station, he needed, he smiled to me and said: “That’s great!”
3. In Germany (underground train) a lady, sitting nearby, made a remark: “Beautiful. Nowadays you can hardly see people engaged in creativity.”
The final aim – 100 drawings. For the moment there 47 drawings.
