“In the Manner of Kline - Abstract Expressionist Painting”
(17” x 38”) 49 brushstrokes, 2006
Artistic Background This painting is in the manner of Franz Kline, a member of the New York School after World War II. Paul wanted to explore the essential qualities of Kline’s work: simplicity, directness, and intellectual and emotional force.
Painting’s Design Rudolf Arnheim’s book “The Power of the Center,” was once again referenced for the interplay of hub, centric and eccentric energy in a painting. (Ref the painting “Swarm Intelligence, A Robotic Painting of Tadpoles.”)
Robot’s New Brushwork Franz Kline’s strokes were clean, strong, thick and forceful. He loaded them with paint. Paul adapted Dulcinea’s programming to create this very distinctive look. A new brushstroke was added to Dulcinea’s repertoire, called the “kline” stroke. In addition to the paint being applied thickly, the stroke was repeated in the opposite direction using the other side of the brush, thus adding more paint to the stroke’s thickness and strength of appearance.
AI Software The software was constructed in the manner of Rodney Brooks’ subsumptive architecture, a structure useful for behavior-based robotics and real-time Artificial Intelligence. Subsumptive architecture employs a hierarchical layering scheme for orchestrating behaviors of agents – the now familiar Paul’s ants.
Fusioneering Summary The merging of these two concepts, Arnheim’s and Brooks’, produced this design of hubs, centric and eccentric energy. The subsumptive software architecture was very effective at creating intriguing, new designs with each click of the “run” button.