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Resource: Jorrit Paaijmans
Platform Project 3
Robotics and Drawing
The third Platform Project will last from September 2024 till February 2025 and will be in collaboration with artist Jorrit Paaijmans. The project will involve (soft) robotics and drawing.
Team
In this interdisciplinary project, 10 highly motivated students from different cultural backgrounds and faculties of the TU Delft (Architecture, Industrial Design, Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering) are working together with artist Jorrit Paaijmans.
Artist
The artistic practice of Jorrit Paaijmans manifests itself in the form of drawing objects, mechanical drawing devices, kinetic installations, performances and sculptures. With his artistic research he contributes to an international discourse that questions and expands the conventions of drawing. The common thread in his work is the dynamic and complex relationship between draftsman and drawing - where both the drawing and the draftsman are fluid roles and concepts. In his research practice he looks for new perspectives on the physical relationship between people, labor and automation in today's technological society. Through mechanization he wants to explore the tension between human and machine action and the development of our relationship to technology.​​​
Starting Point: Homo Inlustrare
With Homo Inlustrare, the drawing human, the relationship between the 'drawing body' and the mechanizing of the drawing act is investigated. Homo Inlustrare is an umbrella term for Jorrits artistic course that he has charted since 2020. It is a long-term artistic research in which he wants to formulate a visual answer to philosophical and ethical questions about technology - with a focus on robotics - in relation to humanity. As an entity outside ourselves, the machine can function as a mirror of the human image. Is a human line imperfect, or does it have more inspiration than the mechanical line of a machine? And if a machine draws a line that is not straight, does it show more 'character', or has it failed? Precisely by externalizing a human action such as drawing, questions about the intrinsically human can be asked.
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In Homo Inlustrare, a project answering to Huizinga's Homo Ludens, the drawing humans are presented as an archetype. The drawing and the robot are used as metaphors. The drawing person is, beyond the playing person, an investigating and creating person. In Homo Inlustrare the robot is both a physical entity in the material world and a metaphor. By seeing the robot as a metaphorical construct, it becomes possible to look with the robot, not at it. Together with experts, I want to look through the mirror that technology holds up to us and view humans through the eyes of the robot. ​​
The project
A central challenge of the project is resisting anthropomorphism. While humans are naturally inclined to attribute emotions and intentions to machines, this project emphasizes the robots’ independence. They are not proxies for human experience but entities in their own right, operating within a framework that we, as creators, have defined. Their autonomy raises questions about control, freedom, and the nature of creativity. Are they truly free, or are their actions a reflection of the parameters we have set? Can they exhibit spontaneity or coincidence, qualities we often associate with human creativity?
By focusing on drawing—a fundamentally human act—the robots challenge us to reconsider what creativity means. Their marks are not utilitarian but expressive and communicative, opening a dialogue about the role of art in an age dominated by efficiency and production. In doing so, they push against the idea of machines as tools optimized for functionality. Instead, they become participants in a broader exploration of expression and individuality, raising questions about the value of art that emerges without human intention.
This speculative approach also reflects on the Anthropocene, a period defined by human domination over nature. In a time when resources, ecosystems, and even machines are expected to serve humanity, the robots represent an alternative vision: beings that exist for their own sake, independent of human control. They do not aim to entertain or assist but to simply “be,” creating a space for viewers to observe and interpret. These robots are set into motion by their own internal dynamics, offering a metaphorical exploration of what it means to live and create without direct human intervention.
The installation becomes a mirror and a window: a mirror reflecting our own social dynamics and interdependence, and a window into a speculative future where machines are not servants but cohabitants. Observers are not positioned as masters or spectators at a zoo but as anthropologists or aliens encountering a new species. This shift in perspective invites reflection on what it means to coexist with entities that we have created but do not fully control or understand.
Ultimately, this project embodies Emergence’s vision of creating new artistic media that provoke reflection on the societal impact of technology. It imagines a positive space for speculation, where the relationship between humans and machines can be redefined. By observing these robotic entities, we are challenged to question the nature of creativity, autonomy, and community. What does it mean to create? What does it mean to be independent? And what can we, as humans, learn about ourselves by sharing the world with beings that are both of our making and beyond our understanding? Through this exploration, we aim not to provide answers but to open new worlds of possibility.
