Gallery: A Vending Machine That Spits Out Custom Algorithmic Cartoons
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LA-based artist Matthias Dörfelt has created a vending machine that creates custom, computer-generated works of art for just three dollars. *Photo: Matthias Dörfelt*
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Dörfelt's machine uses C++ and [PaperJS](http://paperjs.org/) to create unique, seemingly hand drawn faces by altering a few basic parameters like the face's size, shape, and features while adding aesthetic flourishes like colored eyes. *Photo: Matthias Dörfelt*
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The "sales pitch" consists mostly of non sequiturs pulled from Dörfelt's favorite movies, but they are often customized with the patron's name which is decoded from their credit card's magnetic strip. *Photo: Matthias Dörfelt*
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"I almost think of the machine rather as a salesman who sells my 'procedural' work, rather than the artist," says Dörfelt. *Photo: Matthias Dörfelt*
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Dörfelt utilized a psychological principle called [Pareidolia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia), basically human's finding images where none exist, by arranging the elements of the installation to read as a face. *Photo: Matthias Dörfelt*
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"The idea was to personalize the artwork with a handwritten note from the artist, as that is another mechanism that makes an artwork potentially more valuable," says Dörfelt. *Photo: Matthias Dörfelt*
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"For my kind of practice where I'm using custom software that can potentially output an infinite number of unique artworks," says Dörfelt. "It seems rather questionable to artificially create small editions prints just to increase its rarity and price." *Photo: Matthias Dörfelt*
