Syndicate: 220V ROBOTICS

[math@v2.nl (by way of Andreas Broeckmann)]

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............................ 220V ROBOTICS .............................
The Ancestral Path: The Dog Monkeys Journey through the Amorphic Society
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location: ......... V2_Building, Eendrachtsstraat 10, 3012 XL, Rotterdam
opening: .......................................Thu, August 15, 21.00hrs
opening hours: ................. Sat, Aug16 - Sun, Aug17, 14.00-23.00hrs
................................ Mon, Aug18 - Fri, Aug22, 16.00-23.00hrs
conference: ................................. Sun, Aug17, 14.00-17.30hrs
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............................ Performances ..............................
...... daily at 20.00hrs (not on monday) Sunday also at 14.00hrs .......
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admission: .................... exhibition fl 2,50 - performance fl 5,00
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220V ROBOTICS is the title of a presentation on robotics in art and
society. The programme consists of a large exhibition of about 50 robots
and a conference on robotics.
For years now technological development is associated with the images of
robots in movies like Metropolis by Fritz Lang and the Terminator series
with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The shiny steel robots from older movies
have been replaced by more 'soft' robots that can acquire any form and
identity. The movie-robot has become more human over time, man and
machine seem to be merged.
The robot is more than ever before an image that stirs the imagination.
The human shape, the robot often has, seems to suggest that man
eventually will be capable of self-reproduction and that there are no
limits to technological development to achieve this. In this scenario
nature, man and machine merge to cyborgs.
The robot is also a big challenge for artists, Jean Tinguely and Nam
June Paik are famous examples, but also Andy Warhol's statement that he
wishes to be a robot is a reference to this. For the artist there is not
only a technical challenge but also artistic, cultural and social ones.
During 220V ROBOTICS we present both the spectacular robots by Amorphic
Robot Works and a conference on recent artistic and scientific research
in the field of robotics

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........................ Amorphic Robot Works ..........................
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The amazing robots built by Amorphic Robot Works, a cooperation of
artists, hard- and software developers and technicians from San
Francisco, form a mechanical landscape of steel trees and whimsical
robots. They are not the robots we know from science-fiction movies, but
more poetical steel machines - sometimes enormous - that crawl, fight,
make music and challenge the audience. The robots will be presented in
an environment in where light, sound and machines address all senses to
realize a unique experience.
This presentation in the Netherlands is unique and is realized in
cooperation with three artist organizations: Kampnagel in Hamburg, the
Muffat Halle in Muenchen and V2_Organisatie in Rotterdam.

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......................... Amorphic Robot Works .........................
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Chico MacMurtrie ..................................... Artistic Director
Todd Blair ............................ Programme and Technical Director
Brian Kane ........................................ Software Development
Stock ................................ Hardware and Software Development
Matt Daly ........................................ Technical Coordinator
Marc 9 ............................................. Technical Assistant
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.............................. Conference ..............................
location: ............ De Kade, Hoornbrekerstraat 8a, 3011 CL, Rotterdam
admission: ........................................................ free
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In general the robot is considered a machine that either has human
features and resemblance or that stands in a factory constructing cars.
Possibly the Mars robot Sojourner has changed this image a little. Not
many people know that robot are not necessary just mechanical, robots
can also be software active in computer networks. And also robots on a
molecular scale are being developed that can be used to perform tasks
within the human body.
Technology and biology, machines and bodies, apparatuses and organisms
are increasingly merging. Human and animal bodies are turned into
cyborgs, and machines learn to behave like living systems. Every day
we are confronted with new, incredible steps in the convergence of man
and machine.
Three people have been invited to speak about the development within
the field of robotics from different viewpoints:
- Karin Spaink, has written the introductory essay for the Dutch
translation of the "Cyborg Manifesto" by Donna Haraway (US). She will
criticize widely held ideas on the cyborgs and explain that cyborgs are
just ordinary people after all. She will discuss the construction of
identity in relation to the cyborg.
- Joseph Michael is scientist and researches at Robodyne Cybernetics in
London, a company that creates robots using "fractal technology". This
revolutionary research is beyond imagination. Joseph Michael will
demonstrate the principles of his "Fractal Shape Changing Robots" with
a prototype.
- Chico MacMurtrie is the initiator of Amorphic Robot Works and active
as robotics artist for over 15 years. He will use his works to tackle
questions central to the theme this conference - the interrelations
between robotics, art and human experience.

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220V ROBOTICS is also part of a series of presentations on artists
initiatives by De Kade in Rotterdam.
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220V has been made possible with support of:
Stichting Rotterdam Festivals
Anjer Fonds Rotterdam
Stichting Cultuurfonds Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten
Ministerie van OCenW
De Kade - artist organization
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Info: V2_Organisatie, Anniek van Anraad, tel 31.10.4046427, anniek@v2.nl
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