(Archive) (Not) Jammed

Introducing Scott The Dot Matrix Printer

What if machines could think or experience emotions? Observing anachronistic machines has prompted us to wonder whether we truly comprehend these human creations. They often act out, get stubborn and defensive, take their time, or start wailing when you ask them to work. As a collective, our intention is to foster an appreciation for these machines and involve them in our design process and production by giving them the space to express their personality.

The work invites the visitor to engage with a dot matrix printer named Scott and in this way to actively participate in the production process behind printmaking. The installation facilitates a dialogue between people and a mischievous machine, in which the viewer is granted the role of a content provider, while the printer intervenes in the process of printing and acts as the layout designer.

Scott is listening...

The visitors of DDW can enter a “Scott’s Listening” zone, where they can talk directly to him, share a secret, read a poem or sing a song, where Scott will detect the speech and print out his own interpretation of it. Similar to how people sometimes misinterpret others' words or drift off during a conversation, Scott is not entirely precise. He cannot translate human input perfectly, mishears sentences and twists their original meaning. Further along he selects the font, size, leading and composition of the printed speech based on the pitch of his own distinctive printing sounds. The print result acts as a conversational timeline encapsulating the atmosphere of DDW.