Robot, Wire and Clay

Flemming Tvede Hansen’s research is about the interaction between the artistic expression of hands and the possibilities of digital technologies to transform these expressions.
The exhibition, Robot, Wire and Clay, shows the results of a series of experiments with robotic technology, cutting through a lump of clay with a wire. The outcome of these experiments is a physical representation of hand movements in clay that involves, firstly, a transformation in scale, and secondly, the addition of geometric details based on the speed of hand movements.
A cutting wire is one of the ceramist’s most basic tools, consisting of a steel wire primarily used for dividing a lump of clay. Depending on how the hands move, the cutting wire leaves patterns and curves in the clay. The patterns of hand movement reflect the individual and are therefore unique. However, how can this personal way of performing a movement at varying speed be transformed by a robot? And what happens when this simple action is transformed with much greater force and range?
Using a Kinect*, Flemming Tvede has 3D recorded the 3D positions of the hands in movements simulating the division of a lump of clay with a cutting wire. With the help of 3D software, hand movements are translated so that differences in speed are converted into smaller curve paths. The slower the hands moved during the recording, the more curves have been added, and vice versa. Finally, the robot arm, equipped with a cutting wire as a tool, performs a cut through a lump of clay based on the 3D recording with the added curve paths.
Flemming Tvede Hansen works as an associate professor at The Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen. His practice-based research includes experimental 3D shaping through programming responsive digital systems. Additionally, it involves the use of digital manufacturing techniques such as robotics and 3D printing in clay, with a focus on the importance of material properties in the design process.

*A Kinect is a tool developed by Microsoft for computer games that reads 3D positions and can be used for real-time gesture recognition.