The machine was a Spin Painter. Mr. Doob had built it himself from a broken record turntable, a salad spinner, and a motor ripped out of a discarded microwave. When you pulled the cord, the platter spun with a low, grumbling hum. You dripped paint onto a small paper circle, and the centrifuge hurled the colors outward into wild, impossible galaxies of splatter and smear.

The story begins with the artist's fascination with generative art and his desire to create a tool that would allow users to explore the intersection of art and mathematics. The Spin Painter was born out of this idea, and it quickly gained popularity among art enthusiasts, designers, and mathematicians.

He turned the knob.