Bill Vorn - Hysterical Machines, Robotic Sculptures 2006

Each Hysterical Machine has a spherical body and eight arms made of aluminum tubing. It has a sensing system, a motor system and a control system that functions as an autonomous nervous system (entirely reactive). Some machines are suspended from the ceiling and their arms are actuated by pneumatic valves and cylinders. Pyroelectric sensors allow the robots to detect the presence of viewers in the nearby environment. They react to the viewers according to the amount of stimuli they receive. The perceived emergent behaviors of these machines engender a multiplicity of interpretations based on single dynamic pattern of events.
The aim of this project is to induce empathy of the viewer towards characters which are nothing more than articulated metal structures. The strength of the simulacra is emphasized by perverting the perception of the creatures, which are neither animals nor humans, carried through the inevitable instinct of anthropomorphism and projection of our internal sensations, a reflex triggered by any phenomenon that challenges our senses.
This project is part of a larger research program on the Aesthetics of Artificial Behaviors and is very much inspired of a previous work based on the Misery of the Machines (Bill Vorn, LP Demers, La Cour des Miracles, 1997). It is conceived on the principle of deconstruction, suggesting dysfunctional, absurd and deviant behaviors through a functional machine. It operates on a dual-level process expressing the paradoxal nature of Artificial Life.
Credits
Produced with the help of Hexagram, the Institute for Research/Creation in Media Art and Technology
More information: http://billvorn.concordia.ca/menuall.html

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• kinetic
• robotic
• art
• installation
• responsive
• interactive
• sculptures
• AI

[shivayavoda]

I imagine someone skyhigh trippin on acid randomly getting into this exhibition... haha YEAH :D

[shivayavoda]

fucking great