Project Intention
Many years ago, Taiyo Onorato, working at the time with Nico Krebs, began photographing sculptures that were only visible through the eye of the camera. These “photographic ghosts” emerged using long exposure times, moving and rotating devices, and special lighting. To create these images, they built specific tools, starting with a hand drill, then progressing to a welded bicycle rack, pottery tables, GPS-navigated drones, and heavy-duty industrial cranes equipped with remote-controlled LED lights. These techniques allowed them to produce abstract color photographs that were later featured in a large Bauhaus retrospective. They also experimented with shapes during the renovation of their studio space.

The process has always relied on rotation due to its simplicity in achieving geometric precision. Now, with the opportunity to use a robotic arm, Taiyo Onorato proposed to extend this precision into a multi-axial space. He had long dreamed of using a robotic arm but never had access to one. This project is a way to continue his decade-long exploration of ghost-photography and light painting. With geometric shapes, and connections to space and architecture, having a robotic arm in front of the lens could broaden the possibilities of experimentation.

Invited Artist
Taiyo Onorato

Project Title
Photographic ghosts

Tools
UR10, Led light, sparkler, medium and large format camera

Medium
Rays of light, digital and analog photography

Software
Custom ad-hoc Software UR SVG Planner, programming via teach pendant.

Technique used
Light tracing based on SVG paths and on points in space, long exposure photography (light painting)

During the various sessions, the UR10 robotic arm was equipped with different types of lights, including a single LED, and a sparkler. When using the single LED, a relay was employed to control the light, turning it on and off according to the script. Two different techniques were utilised to draw the lines. The first technique involved using custom ad-hoc software called UR SVG Planner, which converts a vector SVG file into URScript. Once loaded onto the robot, the script sends commands to move the arm and precisely reproduce the lines. The second method, mostly used on-site to interact with surrounding elements, involved programming the movement directly via the teach pendant and the free-drive option of the UR10, allowing the arm to be moved by hand to set points in space.

The photographic images were captured using long exposure times on a large format camera, employing both film and a digital back.

Taiyo Onorato is a Swiss artist and photographer. He is also a lecturer at HSLU in Lucerne, Switzerland. He lives and works in Biel, Switzerland. His projects revolve around photography and also encompass sculpture, installation, film, and book publishing. His work has been exhibited internationally in numerous galleries and institutions, including solo shows at MoMA PS1 in New York City, Kunsthalle Mainz, Foam Amsterdam, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Kunsthaus Aarau, CAC Cincinnati, Swiss Institute in New York, Le Bal in Paris, and KINDL Centre for Contemporary Art in Berlin.

Reflexion on the process 
In discussion with Jonas Berthod

What was the idea you originally brought to “A Third Hand”?

 The initial idea was to use a robotic arm to make light drawings and to record them with long time exposures. 
 

What steps did you take? 

We did a total of four sessions. We met twice in the AATB studio in Zurich and twice in Biel. The first time we met in Biel, the location was still a building site; by the second time, a few months later, it was my apartment and studio. 

Right from the start, I was interested in giving the robotic arm a human touch. We initially tested using vectorized drawings made by my children. We also did tests with a slightly flexible extension attached to the robotic arm so we could alter the movements into something softer and less precise.

In what ways does your project benefit from the involvement of a robotic arm, and in what fields do you see potential for artistic exploration?

When I was a child, robots were always shown with such stuttering movements. You would then find these moves in breakdancing, where the dancers imitated the robotic stutter. With the current generation of robots, the movements are so graceful that they have an almost-human appearance, although they are not very similar to us. This opens a lot of potential applications in art.

Which parts of the project did not go as planned and how did you adapt?

I found that programming was the main challenge. Sometimes something would not work, and sorting it out would take a lot of time. However, that was not a surprise; in my experience, that is something to be expected working with machines and is part of the process. 

On the other hand, which parts went well, and were you able to push the research further than expected thanks to these favourable outcomes? 

During the first three sessions, we used a light attachment that was controlled by the robotic arm so it could also be switched on and off. That was great, but somehow it was almost a little too perfect for me. I wanted to try pictures in which there was more loss of control. To try and do that, in the last session we stuck simple sparklers in the robotic arm. 

They burned for about 80 seconds, and we adjusted the exposure to this duration. The resulting images are a bit wild, the circles are perfect – you would never be able to be so precise by hand – but the light is unsteady and sparks fly everywhere, which I really like. The light looks like a torch, and I like the idea of giving the robot such an archaic light source. It's almost a way of closing the loop. 

Which parts of the process brought surprise, delight, joy or unexpected success? 

I thought it was great that you can play with the speed of the light drawings. The light can also be stopped briefly to create wonderfully bling highlights.

How will your project contribute to the potential uses of a robotic arm by designers and artists? How do you hope others will be able to benefit from your research, and what do you hope they will do with it?

 Play and experiment as much as they can! 

Will your involvement in the project have an impact on your own practice? How and why?

The interface between the digital and the real world is something that has interested me for years. Where are these places visible or how can they be visualised? This topic will certainly continue to accompany me.