The inputs to the machines are computer-generated texts. Fake articles are created automatically via an iterative process of combinations, mutations, and manipulations of multiple online sources. These textual ‘ready-mades’ are stitched together contextually into semi-coherent articles and fed into the machines. The texts are sometimes strange and even alienating. The machines, which are the opposite of ready-made, add mechanical noise and irregularities to the resulting images. In these nonverbal glitches, the human observer may find communication and patterns too.
In addition to This Is Not a Typewriter, Segal has a deep fascination with drawing and painting machines, explored in works such as Random Walk 2.0, Originals Factory, Epicenter, Plate Recorder, and Heart for the Tin Man.