Autography

Autography is an interactive artwork, in the form of a software application, that automaticallygenerates evolving 3D graphic characters that resemble human hand-writing. The intention is tocreate a form of automatic writing made by a machine (instead of by a human). Automatic writingis commonly understood to be a form of unconscious expression, where a human in a fugue orsimilar state writes automatically. The writing often resembles hand-writing but tends to lookmore like scribble. The perceived value of automatic writing is dependent on the apprehensionthat human beings possess a subconscious (or unconscious) that can be interpreted through theact of automatic writing. The technique was popular amongst early 20thC aficionados oftheosophy and early psychology. Surrealist artists such as Andre Masson used the technique todevelop semi-abstract artworks, whilst later authors and artists, such as Henri Michaux and CyTwombly, employed the technique to develop highly sophisticated paintings and 'writings' thatquestioned both the authenticity of the artist's mark-making and the semiotic potential of writing.Jackson Pollock's late paintings can also be interpreted within this framework. This work exploresthe posthumanist potential for machines to create automatic writing, raising the question ofwhether a machine might have an unconscious, whilst at the same time critiquing the idea thathumans may. Autography functions as an interactive 3D application. Once downloaded you cannavigate its 3D space, within which the automatic writing evolves, using your mouse/trackpad andkeyboard. You can use your mouse/trackpad to pan around the 3D space. Holding the 'shift' keyon your keyboard, whilst holding down your mouse-button and moving the mouse up/down,allows you to zoom in and out of the 3D scene. You can mix these mouse and keyboard actions togain more control of the navigation and explore the evolving writing, from a distance or close-up.Passing through the textual plane of the writing reveals a "dark mode". Pressing the key 'b' onyour keyboard returns the scene's camera to its original location and orientation, restoring theoriginal view of the scene.