francois xavier saint georges draws on streets of montreal

francois xavier saint georges draws on streets of montreal
all images courtesy of francois xavier saint georges

driving along the streets of montreal, canadian artist francois xavier saint georges has created this series of drawings from a specially designed road contraption. the wind-powered device tracks the artist’s journey, exploring the idea of road distance and art. documenting short distance trips on paper, the project was finally completed after 400km of touring around streets all across the city. the rotation of the wind turbine, fixed in the trunk of a pickup truck responds to speed, acceleration and breaking, as well as traffic flow and pavement quality. the unit records every subtle change on a large sheet of thick white paper using sticks of graphite to generate layers and shades in a circular pattern. a large diameter represents high speeds, while small and dark circles indicate mostly high traffic areas, with each journey producing a unique and delicate design.

the pickup truck drawing contraption

drawing-head detail

st-hubert drawing

sherbrooke drawing

st-zotique drawing

avenue du parc drawing

the wind turbine in action

drawing in montreal – beaubien street

drawing in montral – st-hubert street

slowing down the whole unit

the drawing machine itself

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.