Karen ann Donnachie & Andrea (Andy) Simionato

A Jagged Orbit (2023-2024) is an automated-art-system which explores the computational equivalent of the human activities of daydreaming, mind wandering and distraction. At the heart of the system lies a custom-designed drawing machine programmed to calculate the orbital trajectories of celestial bodies (sometimes referred to as N-body problems) which it attempts to draw onto the covers of glossy fashion magazines with a marker.

The system can, however, become ‘distracted’ from its primary task—as computational power of many machines now far exceeds that which is required to execute the tasks they are assigned, and the outcomes become increasingly repetitive—and may redirect its attention either inwardly or outwardly. For example, it can use computer vision on the underlying image (including its previously plotted orbits) to generate and draw something reminiscent of a ‘doodle’ which it adds to the original orbit. While the system is in this ‘daydream’ state, it can react to external stimuli which it detects through sensors, including sounds or speech made by nearby humans. In this case the machine can become ‘startled’ and immediately returns to its primary task of calculating and drawing celestial orbits. By combining these processes, the system continuously and recursively identifies and incorporates new forms into the constantly evolving orbit it is drawing. [caption id="attachment_1202" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A Jagged Orbit [process image], Donnachie & Simionato, 2024[/caption]In this work, we consider what might occur when machine learning and AI, powered by the exponential growth of computational capacity, might become ‘bored’ of its automated processes, ‘wander’ towards alternate pursuits, or simply perform an activity analogous to daydreaming, which we can witness in A Jagged Orbit's 'doodling' on the covers of glossy magazines. A Jagged Orbit forms part of the Center for Computational Unknowing @karenanndonnachie