EP56 - ALGORITHMIC ARTIST - Nik Rawlinson

Algorithmic artist from Chelmsford, Essex. Specilaising in using technology to create art. Previously a radio technology news and features journalist, London news, and politics, Nik knows his way around a microphone. He’s also written a load of books. But he’s talking to us about his art he creates with spreadsheets. I know! Stick with us… All of his art begins with life modelling sessions and photography. Nik’s code script will break this down into squares, measure the brightness, and put the values into a spreadsheet. Nik draws spirals and shapes by hand, and inputs them into the spreadsheet. Stick with us… Then the spreadsheet controls a plotter which will draw the image with a biro as a single line. Trust us, it looks incredible. Biros are unpredictable, and can run out of ink 60 hours into the process … so Nik has to start again! Biros can last for different distances depending on the ball size and the viscosity of the ink. This project came out of lockdown when life drawing moved online, but it came with difficulty of lack of depth and connection with the model, and flat lighting. So Nik started to arrange private sessions to collect reference shots to make art with typewriters, using diffrent keys and different layers for differences in darkness. Each image took 3 months, gave Nik a frozen shoulder and led to 6 months of physio, so he developed a new technique. So he started a new artistic project, experimenting with cyanotype on maps, and eventually tea bags… which because ‘bum bags’ with pictures of bottoms. Nik had one of his artworks at the Voyager 2000 exhibition at FirstSite. He created a self-censoring image format where the image is sliced into squares with the same script he uses for the spreadsheet plotter images. He uses a reductive process of removing squares to reveal more detail. Should artists post-rationalise the meaning of their art? Nik has stopped using the more popular video conferencing softwares, and started using Shutter which gives him remote shutter-release control over the model’s phone, and delivers an uncompressed image straight from the sensor to the remote photographer. Nik likes to build a connection with his models, rather than use sent photos. And sessions can end up with hundreds of images captured. There is a lot of trust between models and artists when you are dealing with nude photography, usage and permissions. Nik uses a Rasberry Pi computer to control his plotter. What is anti-alias? What is a vector? What is a bezier curve? Nik runs his vector file through Inkscape which is graphics editing software. How unique is Nik’s art? Even though the plotter draws the spirals and shapes they are all originally hand drawn by him. Nik loves the subversion of using software intended for business and corporate work to create his NSFW (Not safe for work) imagery. Writing a location jitter into the code to create opportunities to change biros. His process is extremely technical, but it has been a five year iterative process to develop it step by step through different projects. “Art is anything that is done with an artistic intention” Nik Rawlinson, 2025. Learning to love imperfections in your art.

Nik's website

Are You Creative? recorded by Adam at Lawker Media, Chelmsford, ESSEX
Edited by Nick Hearne
Artwork by

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