Remote Control Drawings

‘The thing about drawing it that you can’t draw a slow line quickly. Equally you can’t draw a fast line slowly, as the speed at which a line is drawn informs the energy that is contained in the drawing.

The size of all Remote-Control Drawings is based on the scale of the model car and the full extent of the ‘lock’ on the front wheels. Ink is continually sponged on to the rear wheels and as the model car that travels over the surface of the paper the tread marks of the tyre leaves behind a trace of that journey.

Using the remote-control handset, I have some, albeit limited, control over the drawing. I like being one step removed, somewhat devoiced from the making of the marks - in control but not in control. The model car never travels in exactly the same path anyway, but as the paper gets wetter and the surface more uneven the traction of the rubber tyres on the paper becomes more precarious leaving much to chance. As a result, no two drawings are the same.

As I mentioned earlier, the speed at which a line is drawn informs the energy that is contained within that drawing and these ideas are very much expressed in this new work. They are like a performance. Everything has to be right. The car in the right place and the sponges inked up correctly, as you only have one chance. A moment’s loss of concentration and the drawing is gone. You can’t go back – you can’t rub out. In many ways it’s an automated form of calligraphy’.

Transcript from the Remote Control Drawings video

September 2022