Spiral Drawing Sunrise

Drawing robot one hour after sunrise at the Marrakech Biennale, 2012.
Solar powered robot cart, plastic bottle, sand, rope, pole. 2008 – ongoing

Short description
The Spiral Drawing Sunrise-robot depicts every sunrise as unique, as each morning happens only once. Passersby, who are too late to experience the sunrise in person, can still encounter it via the Spiral Drawing. The performance starts at dawn and lasts till noon. During these hours, an automatic drawing unfolds, writing the sunrise on the pavement.
The small Spiral Drawing Sunrise-robot has a solar panel and an hourglass. It starts moving as the rising sun’s light provides increasing amounts of energy. The machine draws as the sand flows, making a spiral pattern over time.

ISEA 2011. Drawing robot four hours after sunrise at Taskim Square, Istanbul, Turkey.
2015, Leiden. Spiral Drawing Sunrise print, silver on brass, nomination for the Academy Award in Astronomy and Art organised by the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences.
There are different techniques used to print the sunrises. This brass version was made for the Marrakech Bienniale 2012.

Artistic motivation
The sunrise is a magical moment of the day, but often missed by sleep or morning hurries. During the performance we create a situation of attention to this astronomical event, even if it is already some hours later in the day.

Performance WG plein May 15 2022

Esther shows the robots movements and comments (in Dutch) on the stages of the Spiral and how she experiances it.

Lecture Noortje Marres

Noortje Marres, Professor at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies – University of Warwick, UK in the the 2015 Annual Lecture “What makes a public affair?” on Spiral Drawing Sunrise.

Credits
The project was initially developed in the inspiring contexts of Interactivos; MedialabPrado, Madrid.

The project team during Interactivos:
Edwin Dertien
– (1-4 June) pre – production/ electronic engineering / programming
Pablo Ripolles Iturralde – electronic engineering / programming
Max Kazemzadeh – robot construction first phase
Carlos Corpa – robot design second phase
Carla Capeto – electronics  and building
Paula Pin – sand research and photography
Daniel Canogar – feetback and critique
Izaskume Escadon – video camera
Yolanda  Spinola Elias – sand research and  video camera assistence
Nuria Quintana – video camera and editing
Sytse Wieringa – location and graffity shop hunting

later team members:
Noortje Marres – blog writing
Arnold Hoogerwerf – video registration
Jasper Hopman – performance and software adjustments
Marloes van Son – soldering
Micky Faas – assistance

Financial support
Interactivos; MedialabPrado, Madrid.
Stichting Stokroos