Jagged Orbit: Karen Ann & Andy Simionato

 A Jagged Orbit (2023) is an automated-art-system which algorithmically defaces publications, transforming their physical appearance through gradual cancellation and super-inscription until the original is illegible or unrecognisable. Through multi-input, computer vision path-finding algorithms, the system’s mark-making is determined not only by the underlying images and texts of the original publication, but also environmental data collected from where the work is situated, including speech, movement or sound. These additional sources of data (distraction) may cause the system’s attention to ‘slip’ away from its primary task, either inward — toward other, more ‘meditative’ tasks (representing a kind of mind wandering, or daydreaming) — or outward, evoking perceptual responses to external stimuli. With the computational power of machines now far exceeding that which is required to execute many of the tasks they are assigned, this artwork speculates on what could happen when an AI becomes bored with, or distracted by, its human counterparts.