Abstract Painter Builds Clever Machines to Deposit Paint

I have always been fascinated by mechanically-assisted forms of painting and other types of automated or semi-automated art production. For instance, one of my favorites is Giuseppe Pinot-Gallizio, an Italian painter who, in the 1950s, was part of the radical French art group Situationist International. A former chemist and inventor, Pinot-Gallizio developed a mechanically-assisted method of painting on moving rolls of canvas that he dubbed “industrial painting.”

Working in a similar vein of invention and experimentation (Pinot-Gallizio called his studio “the lab”), Callen Schaub creates his own mechanical means of depositing paint onto canvas (or onto people and objects). The YouTube description for a CBC Arts profile of Schaub explains:

Toronto-based artist Callen Schaub invites us into his studio to see how he uses swinging troughs, paint can pendulums, and bicycle parts to create his signature abstract paintings.

Callen Schaub’s practice draws from a rich history of artists using spinning and dripping techniques — from Damien Hirst to Jackson Pollock. But Callen has invented his own homemade devices that include swinging troughs, paint can pendulums and bicycle parts that help him create his signature works. In this video, Callen takes you inside his paint-splattered studio for a look at how he makes his dazzling works of art.

Callen using his paint bucket pendulum to swing paint onto canvas.

The spin machine, Schaub’s go-to device, is a hand-cranked canvas spinner he made out of bicycle parts.

With the swinging trough technique, Callen deposits paint into a trough hanging above the canvas and then swings the trough over the canvas to deposit the paint.

Follow Callen Schaub on Instagram:.

[H/t Adafruit]