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March 20, 2007, 01:36 PM ET
Abstract Expressionism 2.0
Jackson Pollock's famous drip paintings might have spawned more gasps of "Gee, I could do that" than any other series of works, and it is safe to say that most of those comments have been off the mark. But at least one new painter might be able to pull off a halfway-decent Pollock impression -- and, as it turns out, he's a robot.
"Action Jackson," as the robot is cheekily named, was built by Topher McFarland, a mechanical-engineering student at Washington University in St. Louis. The robot may not have Pollock's art-world cachet or his tempestuous backstory, but it does manage to simulate the artist's process reasonably well: Action Jackson jerks across a canvas, splattering paint by shooting it from a nozzle.
Action Jackson may not have produced a "Blue Poles" of its own, but it is on its way to modest financial success. Mr. McFarland has sold several of his machine's paintings for about $10 apiece, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. --Brock Read
Categories: Research
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