Hektor: Art or Artist?

Hektor’s creators call him “a portable Spray-paint Output Device for laptop computers.” It was designed and created by Jürg Lehni and Uli Franke, of Lausanne, Switzerland. To create its art, it employs a computer, a premade Illustrator file, two small motors, some string, a specially designed spray paint holder, and, of course spray paint. With these tools, it is able to closely reproduce graffiti like images. My question is this: who is creating the art? Hektor or his creators?

This question is similar to those I have been asking all semester. At what point does a piece of multimedia art stop being “art,” or even the artists own creation? If a computer randomly generates sound and images, is it an artist? Or are those who programmed the computer to do so the artists? While I have already decided on my own answer to this question, it is interesting to look at it from different points of view.

Lets say we have a novice painting student. He doesn’t know much of anything about how to paint… all he knows is that it involves brushes. He takes a class. He buys a canvass and paint at a local art store. He goes to class. His professor says, “Here’s a still life. Here’s how to sketch it. Here’s how to show depth. Here’s how to use color. Now paint that still life.” When the student finishes, he has produced a piece of art. However, would everyone agree that this painting is entirely his own? He received much tutoring, after all. He didn’t stretch his own canvass. He didn’t choose his subject… so is it really his own “piece of art”?

Similarly, are the creators of Hektor the creators of the art he produces? The work Hektor produces is not of his own creation. By using Adobe Illustrator and a plugin called Scriptographer, Hektor follows paths that tell him where to move, when to start spraying, and when to stop. However, the Illustrator file that tells him his actions was created long beforehand. So is Hektor creating this piece of art? Or are those who gave him his instructions?

As always, I maintain my argument that Hektor, like any other multimedia tool, is just that – a tool. Hektor is like a paint brush. He is a canvass. He is the paint. He is the professor offering instruction. However, the author of whatever piece he produces are his creators and those who give him his instructions.

Hektor is extremely different from most multimedia art, however. The fact of the matter is that the artists’ hands never touch the final piece. They barely even touch the paint except to shake it before the pass it off to Hektor. Of course they give Hektor his instructions, much as other multimedia artists provide their tools with images or movies or sounds, but Hektor creates art in a much more permanent way. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future with Hektor and programs like it. Will there be a point when his offspring are able to draw from various sources and create their own art? Who knows.





Various other things:
Rita - A drawing and erasing display
Telephone - Two computers talking