The Dialogue Between Artist and Robot

Collaborating with Technology at LITIX

I’ve been working with Luciano Massari at LITIX in Carrara. The robot is a tool, a technology. It can only do what I ask. I take pieces already made in other materials, such as soft stones, bronze, or plaster, and recreate them in Carrara marble.

First, I get a 3D scan of the original piece and send it to Luciano along with any changes I want. For example, we sometimes increase the size of certain pieces. After I choose the marble, the robot starts carving based on the scan.

Preserving the Artist’s Touch

The forms and marks that my hand produces hold unique emotion, experience, and work. When the robot carves, it uses the same tools as a person—chisels, files, and more. This way, the marks on the original piece transfer directly onto the new piece.

I hope the robot’s chisel can carry the ideas, emotions, and experiences from those same marks without adding or removing anything. In this sense, the robot preserves the artist’s intent more faithfully than a human artisan, who inevitably adds their own personal touch.

Observing the Robot at Work

Watching a robot carve marble is fascinating. It can recreate in a short time what took so much effort to carve by hand. Here, the robot does not participate in the creative process; it simply transfers the forms and marks of the original piece.

The original concept – expressed through forms, lines, marks, planes, and gestures – remains intact. Whether the tool is in my hand or the machine’s, the resulting form and gesture always come from the original idea.