On the cover: Nima Nabavi’s The Feeling I Get From You (2025), archival ink on paper.

← All issuesSummer 2025

Machine Arts No. 2

Nima Nabavi: Hand to Machine

+ Inside Paul Rickards’s vintage plotter paradise
+ A studio visit with Manfred Mohr

Readers in Europe can order a print-on-demand copy from Blurb and skip international shipping. Order from Blurb (EU)

Dubai-based artist Nima Nabavi unleashes his infinity project, pushing geometry, patience, and machine precision. We visit the studio of digital art pioneer Manfred Mohr for a conversation about his legacy and current work, and vintage plotter enthusiast Paul Rickards opens the doors to his collection of decades-old machines still making new work.

Andrew Strauss explains how to get started with technical pens, from maintenance to a deep jet-black line, and A. B. Fominaya writes about bringing knitting, embroidery, and plotters together.

Inside issue no. 2

4
From the Workshop
Editor Bre Pettis shares some issue highlights.
5
Rearview
Adventures in long plotting, Educators’ Week, Downloaded to the Wall, and Zancan at bitforms gallery.
6
News + Exhibitions
Infinite Images: The Art of Algorithms at the Toledo Museum of Art, and Casey Reas at DAM Projects.
10
Plot the Landscape
We posed a challenge, and you answered.
11
Artist Statement
A. B. Fominaya on drawing with thread.
13
Getting Started with Technical Pens
Andrew Strauss on maintenance, ink well volume, and a sumptuous jet-black tone.
19
Hand to Machine
Nima Nabavi unleashes his infinity project.
26
The Pioneer: Manfred Mohr
A visit to the studio of the digital art legend.
32
Turn On, Tune In, Plot Out
A trip inside Paul Rickards’s vintage plotter paradise.

Machine Arts with plotted art on a table

Turn On, Tune In, Plot Out: Paul Rickards

Machine Arts No. 2 · Summer 2025

Buy No. 2 — $10