In 2013 I told my server to generate an image for me. An image of a random coloured rectangle on a random coloured background. Then I told it to do this once a day, every day, and it has been doing that ever since. Along the way I told it to generate different types of images as well. Images of blobs for instance. My server has generated more than twenty thousand images so far.






I put all these images into a raspberry pi with a three coloured e-paper display. It only knows the colours black, white and red. So in order to display these images, I had to write a script that translates every pixel of these very, very colourful images into a red, a white or a black image. It works, and the results have a pleasant graphical quality.
Every fifteen minutes a different image is shown with either a black, or a white background. So it takes a while before you get to see the same image. To be exact, you'll never see exactly the same image: every time a pixel is shown, the script decides if it’s going to be white, red or black, there is a random factor at work.






The frame is made from this very nice 2mm white cardboard with a black surface. When you cut it with a laser cutter it gets this brown, wood-like colour, which is enhanced when you glue the sheets together. It looks good.


I make these things with black, white and red images to order. They will cost somewhere around four to five times the value of the hardware. If you want one of these objects, or if you have any questions or comments, pick up the phone and dial my number send me an email. Don’t worry, I really like getting these kinds of emails.