CHICO MACMURTRIE
Inflatable Robotic Arts in Canada
University of Manitoba School of Art Gallery
March 30 - April 27 2012
Workshop Dates: March 20-30, 2012
EXHIBITION
Video Pool Media Arts Centre, in collaboration with the University of Manitoba School of Art is pleased to present Inflatable Robotic Arts in Canada by Chico MacMutrie and The Amorphic Robot Works. Inflatable Robotic Arts in Canada” represents an innovative development project implementing evolving technologies for the new generation of robotic sculpture and media arts.
WORKSHOP
How To Make Robotic Performing Machines and Robotic Environments
March 20-30, 2012
Canadian artists, students and technicians are invited to participate in a ten day workshop How to Make Robotic Performing Machines and Robotic Environments”. Fifteen participants will be selected to assist Chico MacMurtrie and The Amorphic Robot Works crew to create a new generation of large scale inflatable robot sculptures to be exhibited at The University of Manitoba School of Art Gallery. The participants will be involved in all of the aspects of installation including: designing, sewing and gluing new inflatables; installing feedback sensors; programming max and other midi software; hooking up pneumatic systems; wiring; modeling components on the computer; using rhino; lamina design and solid works and welding aluminum parts. Video Pool and the U of M will provide a large compressor, worktables and assorted tools to complete the installation, afterwhich participants will rehearse the robotic performance. Artists, students, technicians and curators will come together, each bringing their own unique talent, and walk away with new insight and skills that contribute to their own work and art practice. Participants will think critically about the robotic arts and question the connection between machines, performance and the human condition.
REGISTRATION:
To express interest in participating in Chico MacMurtrie”s workshop please contact Lindsey Bond by e-mail at vpprogramming@videopool.org or by phone: 204.949.9134 ext 3. E-mailed interests are requested to place MacMurtrie Workshop” in the subject line. Please send your interest request by: Monday, March 12, 2012 by 4:00pm. 10-15 workshop participants will be selected. There is NO CHARGE for registration and workshop. A shuttle will be provided to take participants to the U of M Gallery site each morning and afternoon.
CHICO MACMURTRIE + AMORPHIC ROBOT WORKS
Chico Macmurtrie is one of the worlds leading artists using robotic technologies to create movable sculpture. MacMurtrie was born in New Mexico in 1961 and is the founder and Artistic Director of Amorphic Robot Works. MacMurtrie formed ARW in 1991 as a collaborative group of artists, hardware/software engineers, designers and technicians to develop Robotic Performance work. This work spanning over 20 years has been an ongoing endeavor to uncover the primacy of movement and sound. Each machine is inspired or influenced, both, by modern society, and by what the artists physically experience and sense. In response to both the logistic and artistic limitations inherent in the use of heavy, rigid materials in sculptural robotics, MacMurtrie has created a new generation of interactive, robotic work entitled The Inflatable Bodies. In place of the cumbersome metal found in standard robotics, these robotic performers arise from high- tensile, inflatable, fabric "skeletons" which are shapeless until inflated with air. The unusual mechanical ability to relax the bone of the Inflatable Bodies creates movements that conventional robotics cannot, and results in an unprecedented range of purposeful, flexible motion. The machines are capable of an astonishing natural elegance: moving and interacting with live performers and audience with a nearly proprioceptive self-awareness in an uncanny portrayal of some of the qualities of a living system. Employing pioneering robotic and construction techniques, the 'inflatable body' sculpture explores the parallels that exist between humans and machines, and the fascination with a machine's ability to depict the most primal aspects of the human condition.
