Patrick Tresset

‘Well, that helped to pass the time,’ says Vladimir.

‘It would have passed anyway,’ Estragon replies.

– Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot.

Tresset uses what he calls ‘clumsy robotics’ to create autonomous cybernetic entities that are playful projections of the artist. For his exhibition, Tresset will present three robotic installations that each embody the draughtsman as a single minded entity that draws to let time flow. It is only an obsessive drawing entity. It has ‘eyes’ linked to an artificial mind which imperfectly simulates a small part of Tresset’s abilities. Its singular drawing arm has limited freedom of gestures which makes it only able to apply simple tracing and erasing actions. Yet, it is capable of displaying attention and purpose when focusing on a sitter or their image and drawing their face in a style akin to Tresset’s own panoply. The impact of intention is even more striking if the action slightly fails, such as when the arm is attempting to draw a straight line but not managing to perfectly do so.