Dances with Objects

For some reason I love to talk philosophically or at least pseudo-philosophically about technology, and videos such as 'Design' by Glasser can trigger those downpours of thoughts:



This artist is clearly inspired by technology as well, as she moves sensuously around an essentially abstract object, exploring her relationship to it. The video shows the object changing along with her movements, unfolding its potentials and showing possible stances it may take in relationship to her. First, the object and human being are presented as essentially quite naked and empty. It shows the object being confined to nothing but empty straight lines, which is, you might say, the monolithic essence of machine-made artefacts. And the human being is confined to its organic essence, empty with nothing but animal impulses inside. These two empty containers are in a way quite ridiculous in themselves. But when the object and human being start to complement each other, dramas unfold, and the relationship deepens. It is interesting that sometimes it shows her clearly manipulating the object in order to control it, but as soon as she stops, the object takes on its own behavior again, driven by its own life force, ready for the next unfoldment in the drama. This is unlike many human beings who tend to remain obsessed with ideas of control. But the human and his objects inherently seem to dance around one another, as the relationship is more mysterious and unpredictable.



I see technology as a great mirror for humanity. It is in itself very pure and abstract, able to reflect many different things, whereas human individuals often are only able to reflect a limited number of things and that's why in our lives we need to meet all these different people, from simple fools in random bars up to the highest gurus in holy places. But a single technological artefact can potentially shift in all these forms, emotionalities, and roles, and so it could shift relationships much more powerfully and efficiently. This will lead to a next sort of modernist project, namely the automation of our inner development.

Projection Mapping Power!

Probably one of the most powerful demonstrations of projection mapping up to date, the clip 'Box' by Bot&Dolly, shows some novelties in how the technique is used. It's pretty well sequenced, and it involves robots, too! Watch it here:

 

The only criticism is that the end, with its 'Escape' section and the Arthur C. Clarke quote, is based on an illusion: it would seem like a magical dream that technology offers us some kind of existential escape. This escape is an illusion and instead the challenge or invitation -to which technology could also contribute- is to deeply accept our existential condition and venture further into it, rather than using external methods to get out of it. In the end, technology is a mere tool for survival, and this video is mostly just eye-candy of course, it shouldn't be seen as part of some great technological dream (well it's fine if you do but it's an illusion you're buying into which has burdened humanity long enough now). That having been said, this video is still an absolute must-see.

Ethereal dancer

Daniel Franke and Cedric Kiefer have created an impressive piece of art by capturing the movements of a dancer in 3D with a Kinect, converting the data to a point cloud, and then spreading out the data over time in a way that resembles painting with 3D points.

The piece subtly reminds us of a coming age where the notion of 'my body' becomes ever more vague, as it will be easily alterable in more and more radical ways. Our bodies will become more and more connected to a technological atmosphere, where almost anything is possible.



Also watch the making process, where you'll also be treated with some extra visual effects:

And the robots celebrate

The era of the robot has begun, The Netherlands are in the semi-finals of the World Cup, what's not to celebrate?

This epic robot performance is a must-watch for anyone at least somewhat interested in the interspersion of robots into our lives. There are some pretty subtle and exquisite moves these robots are doing with an extreme 'sense' of balance. What's especially confusing is that the robots can change their arms so that their back looks like their front. Then again, we just have to get used to robots getting physically superior to us.

Living Dress

Lady Gaga has recently set foot on the stage wearing a mechanized dress with several moving parts, reminding us once again that the image of the cyborgized human is gaining foothold in popular culture. The mechanics of the dress seem not too complicated when compared to, say, Hussein Chalayan's creations, nor does it seem to be very stable as the singer had to stand still during the performance. Nevertheless the choreography makes this performance have a great impact in simply burning an image of a human on our retina that we would more relate to a virtual character in your average MMORPG.

Test_Lab: V2 wearable technology performance art + lecture

As electronic technology is more and more pervading our everyday lives, it is also finding its way into our clothing. How will this fusion augment the human body and allow it a new means of expression, social interaction, or even personal and spiritual development?

Next Wednesday at the V2_ lab at the Institute for the Unstable Media in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, an event called Test_Lab will take place comprising a lecture by Sabine Seymour, author of the book "Fashionable Technology", followed up by two live performances of groups that have developed interactive garments during a two-day workshop in collaboration with Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson of Kobakant and Plusea. As seen in the picture above, I will be performing myself as a 'Human Violin', rendering the technologically mediated human body both a generative and a manipulative instrument. Also other artists will show and discuss their latest projects. For anybody interested in one of the more exciting technological fusions of our day, or in the future of technology and the cyborg in general, make sure to be there!

It starts at Wednesday May 20th, 8PM, at the V2_ lab: Eendrachtsstraat 10 in Rotterdam.