When art needs an essay to be understood By Robert Nelson Save Normal text size ACCA until 15 March Thereâs an ingenious drawing machine at ACCA. On a raised platform, an armature pulls at 100 strings in a linear backward and forward motion. The strings run up the wall, fly across the space and tug at pieces of charcoal moored to the opposite wall. Tracing inscriptions 2020, installation view Credit:ACCA / Robert Andrew / Andrew Curtis The resulting drawings resonate with one another in analogous actions. The spectacle is engaging, as you try to work out the engineering: how do the strings coordinate the curved gestures on the wall? On a symbolic level, the work is tantalising. Itâs like an allegory in which divine will is perfectly organised and controlled by a matrix, but perfect compliance does not eliminate chance and chaos.