Story

Samuel and Sally are best friends until one day Sally discovers that Samuel has a terrible habit of making really unimpressive paintings in his basement alone at night. She’d been walking to his house and happened to see through an uncovered corner of a basement window. He is deeply ashamed when she asks him about it because he’s embarrassed of the habit, and Sally is hurt that he’s been keeping it secret since they’re so close.

We get the chance to peer into Samuel’s underground atelier and watch his ridiculously spastic practice. It’s obvious that he’s got a lot of emotion he’s trying to get out onto the canvas but it’s really not translating. What he needs is some guidance to refine his craft and then he might actually be able to progress artistically.

He’s obsessed with the solitary nature of the work and despite her many protestations, won’t let Sally watch him paint. (The first step he takes is covering up the little hole Sally had watched through with a thick stroke of blood red paint.)

Though initially hurt and confused by the intensity of his response, Sally then comes to see that actually his work is very important to him. She thinks maybe she can help him. She took some art classes in college though she never was especially serious about it.

Through some long conversations, she convinces him to let her come into his basement and show him what she knows. She makes paintings with a much more refined touch, using pastels and being careful in her brushwork. It’s a very different style from his. But still, her paintings are very restrained and boring.

In a moment of inspiration, Samuel reaches over and grabs the brush while Sally is painting, and they both keep their hands on the brush at the same time and paint cooperatively. Now, suddenly, they see that they can paint beautifully when they work together, two hands on the brush.

 
Robots

Samuel is a painting robot that moves very spastically and quickly and only vertically. He can only paint in the Y axis, and if he wants to do anything other than paint a vertical line he needs to reposition his whole body laterally (which he’s bad at). The best he can do is to make a bunch of vertical stripes.

Sally is a painting robot with much more controlled movements, but who can only paint horizontally. She’s better at moving her painting arm up and down than Samuel but it’s still jerky. She can only make a bunch of horizontal stripes.

When their actuators are on the same brush, they are able to paint perfect circles and spirals together. It’s very beautiful to watch.