Amorphic Robot Works News

Ancestral Path in London, England

2006-10-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

Simultaneous with its premiere of Totemobile at the Paris Motor Show, Amorphic Robot Works is presenting its 'Ancestral Path' computer-controlled sculptural piece. Performance dates are as follows:
Sunday �� 8th October 13.00 � 13.30, 17.00 � 17.30 Friday � 13th October 13.00 � 13.30 Saturday 14th October 13.00 � 13.30 Sunday � 15th October 13.00 � 13.30
At the Kinetica Galleries, located within Spitalfields Market in London's East End.
For more information see http://www.kinetica-museum.org
http://amorphicrobotworks.org

Totemobile World Premiere

2006-09-20T00:47:00.000-07:00

ARW is pleased to announce the world premiere of its Totemobile sculpture, a 36 degree-of-freedom robotic piece commissioned by Citroen. It appears at the Paris Motor Show 2006 from September 28 to October 16 2006. For more information and updated photos, see ARW website.

STRP rescheduled

2006-03-10T14:55:00.000-08:00

ARW has rescheduled its appearance at STRP in Eindhoven, the Netherlands for 2007, instead of 2006. Next year, ARW will present new Inflatable Bodies sculptures under computer control, and with interactive features.

Inflatable Body sculptures premiere in Australia

2006-02-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

ARW will workshop and premiere 16 new Inflatable Body sculptures in Adelaide Australia, March 3 - April 8, 2006, in a series presented by the Experimental Art Foundation. These new Bird sculptures represent a continuation of Amorphic Robot Works' research into materials and improved sculptural control.

Inflatable Body Birds installation in Spain

2006-02-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

ARW will premiere 5 new Inflatable Body pieces as part of MARTE M�laga Arte y Tecnolog�a festival (translation), February 14-19 2006, sponsored by the government of Andalucia, an autonomous region of Spain. The Inflatable Body sculptures are a new generation of permanent work from ARW that will completely eliminate the limiting factors of weight and size of previous work to allow for a broader exhibition base. Humanoid forms will arise from high-tensile inflatable fabric skeletons, formless until air inflates the bones. Servo-controlled air bladders will run all of the inflatable muscle groups, which will animate these bones. The possibilities for range and kind of movement are as broad as that for muscle and bone, but with little of the mass.

Experiments with Inflatable Bodies at Robodock

2005-09-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

ARW is pleased to continue its Experiments with Inflatable Bodies in a series of performances at Robodock in Amsterdam, from September 21-24. Demonstrating pioneering new sculptural construction technique and control methods, these featherweight inflatable fabric kinetic sculptures both occupy space in ways different from all other ARW pieces, but move in new ways as well. Previous ARW machines were built primarily with metal, wood and plastic. ARW began work on inflatable sculptures with the Telescoping Totem Pole, 1996, and the Inflatable Mountains, part of the Amorphic Landscape, 2000, Amorphic Robot Works now takes lightweight, audience-friendly interactive kinetic sculptures to their next stage of development. Video of the first Bird piece can be seen here.

Experiments with Inflatable Bodies in Dresden

2005-07-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

ARW is pleased to premiere the Experiments with Inflatable Bodies in a series of performances in Dresden Germany as part of the Holger John's Imaginares Museum, Elektrische Stadt series, July 9-13. Demonstrating pioneering new sculptural construction technique and control methods, these featherweight inflatable fabric kinetic sculptures both occupy space in ways different from all other ARW pieces, but move in new ways as well. Previous ARW machines were built primarily with metal, wood and plastic. Beginning with the Telescoping Totem Pole, 1996, and the Inflatable Mountains, part of the Amorphic Landscape, 2000, Chico MacMurtrie takes lightweight, audience-friendly interactive kinetic sculptures to their next stage of development. For more information, see Electrische Stadt , or an English translation here . Video here.

Forest of Telescoping Totem Poles debuts in Columbus, IN

2005-05-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

A striking new installation, the Forest of Telescoping Totem Poles with inflatable artery/root system is under construction for exhibition April 22-July 31 at The Columbus Museum of Art and Design. The entire installation will be affected by visitors as they enter the Forest and move about, changing the behaviors of every element. Video here.

Columbus Museum of Art and Design
The Commons, 123 Washington St
Columbus IN.

Amorphic Robot Works Open Studio

2005-04-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

Open Studio: Amorphic Robot Works is pleased to open its studio, the Amorphic Church, Saturday April 16 between noon and 6pm to show the new work Forest of Telescoping Totem Poles. The Forest will be on exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art and Design in Columbus Indiana April 22-July 31. Also on display at the Open House will be Skeletal Reflection, Rope Climber and other works.
Directions to the studio.

Interactive Fiesty Kids at Indianapolis IMA

2005-02-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

The ten new interactive Fiesty Kids, fresh from their premiere at the L.A. Art Fair Jan 27, will appear at the Indianapolis Museum of Modern Art, open to the public May 6. The Kids are individually interactive; they optically sense people approaching and perform, vibrate, oscillate, chime or just aggravate based on the time people spend nearby.

IMA�Indianapolis Museum of Art
4000 Michigan Road
Indianapolis IN

Chico MacMurtrie at NALIP conference

2005-02-11T13:35:00.000-08:00

Chico MacMurtrie will participate in the National Association of Latino Independant Producers' conference session "Technologies Enabling the Transformation of Entertainment" Saturday March 5, 9:15 A.M. NALIP�s mission is to promote the advancement, development and funding of Latino and Latina film and media arts in all genres. MacMurtrie will present video and discuss applications of technology in his artistic endeavors.
The National Association of Latino Independent Producers
Conference VI: Catch the Latino Wave
Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, Huntington Beach, CA.
March 3�6, 2005

Chico MacMurtrie at AMNH panel

2005-02-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

Amorphic Robot Works artistic director Chico MacMurtrie will participate in the American Museum of Natural History's Art/Science Collision Series panel discussion "Art/Science Collision: Robotics in New York," Thursday, February 17 starting at 7pm. This program includes demonstrations illustrating robotic expression and discussions with some leading individuals and collectives; other participants include Eric Singer, founder of LEMUR, Eva Sutton and Sarah Hart, who present Sumi-ebots. MacMurtrie will discuss current and new works for upcoming U.S. shows, and will exhibit one of the seed sculptures for future inflatables work, Telescoping Totem Pole. Amorphic Robot Works' current installation of Too Big Dog Monkey and the Cave of the Subconscious at the Wood Street Galleries in Pittsburgh PA, runs through March 18. The Raining Tree interactive sculpture continues in Cincinnati at the Contemporary Arts Center until June.

American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West @ 79th Street
Linder Theater, 1st floor
B, C to 81st St.; 1, 9 to 79th St.
Thursday, February 17, 7 pm.
Tickets: $15; $13.50 members, students, & senior citizens
For tickets, call 212-769-5200 or visit www.amnh.org

Too Big and Cave of the Subconscious at Pittsburgh

2005-01-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

Amorphic Robot Works returns to the United States with the installation of Too Big Dog Monkey, the Cave of the Subconscious, and YoYo Belimbau at the Wood Street Galleries in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from January 28 to March 18, 2005. After touring Europe for several years, the Cave with its 24 resident electromechanical and pneumatic sculptural machines can be entered and experienced by gallery visitors at any time. For maintenance reasons, individual visitors will see a quieter, less intense performance, while groups of five or more visitors will be treated to the full-volume all-machines show. YoYo Belimbau is now more sound interactive: visitors can play rhythms with their hands and feet and will be imitated (or mocked) by the newly tuned robot. To listen to YoYo's live streaming audio, click here (help?). Too Big Dog Monkey will perform daily at 12:30pm.
The Wood Street Galleries
601 Wood Street, Pittsburgh PA
Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 12pm to 8pm, Friday-Saturday 12pm to 10pm.
No charge.

Interactive versions of Kids at LA Art Fair

2005-01-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

Amorphic Robot Works will premiere ten new renditions of the Kids sculpture series with new interactivity at the New Los Angeles Art Fair For Contemporary & New Art January 27�30 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The Kids feature new materials and technology for responsiveness to viewers. This new run of works is of museum quality, and represents Chico MacMurtrie's first foray into works for sale. Each Horny Kid sculpture is self-contained requiring only to be plugged in to a wall outlet to be interactive with approaching visitors, exhibiting new opportunities for play for buyers of these new works.

Exhibition hours: Jan 28-29, 12-7 p.m., Jan 30, 12-6 p.m. Tickets $15 for one day, $25 for all three days. http://www.artla.net .

Foetus to Man at Gigantic Art Space, NY

2004-06-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

Amorphic Robot Works is pleased to present Fœtus to Man, Study in the "Personal Space" show at Gigantic ArtSpace, June 16 - July 31.

Fœtus to Man, Study, 2003. Aluminum, steel, motor, bearings. 6� x 6� x 2�.

The piece on exhibition is a study for a large-scale permanent commission for the city of Lille, France. In the commission, MacMurtrie further explored his fascination with the cycles of life in the form of a time-keeping piece. The Fœtus to Man clock accommodates a slightly larger than life-sized figure of a man made of hand-pounded bronze. The hands of the figure act as the hour hand of a clock. As time progresses toward 12 o�clock, the figure moves from a fetal position to stand fully erect. At 12 o�clock, the figure turns, showing an aged visage, and prepares for its descent back to the fetal position at 6 o�clock. The permanent work was installed in Lille in December 2003 on the occasion of the city�s inauguration as the European Cultural Capital, 2004.

In order to successfully simulate human flesh with metal, the aluminum study on exhibition was sculpted to examine and refine the mechanics and aesthetics of the collapse and expansion of fat and muscle. The lessons learned from this metallic relief insured the realism and mechanical reliability of the final, 3-dimensional, bronze figure.

Gigantic Art Space is located at 59 Franklin St. NYC Between Broadway/Lafayette.

ARW Retrospective installation at Lille, FR

2003-12-06T04:45:00.000-08:00

ARW is pleased to announce the installation and performance of the Amorphic Robot Works Retrospective at the Cultural Capital of Europe Festival in Lille, France from December 2003 to March 2004. More information about seeing the show is available here. This is the first time all of Amorphic Robot Works' machines have been able to perform together. The retrospective includes The Ancestral Path Through the Amorphic Landscape, the Cave of the Subconscious, Too Big Dog Monkey, Skeletal Reflections, the Floaters, YoYo Belimbau, the House Player, and many machines not seen for years in performance. The installation has two modes: interactive - visitors can activate individual machines by walking near them, and performance, in which the ARW crew will stage an entire performance featuring every machine in concert. The installation is controlled by Mac computers running Maxplay with performance elements designed in Studiovision, networked with Linux and Windows interface PCs running Pure Data, Eyesweb, and custom vision and control software. Exhibition hours at the TriPostal building are 10am-7pm Wednesdays and Sundays, 10am-9pm Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Sound-interactive YoYo Berimbau at Cambridge MA

2003-08-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

ARW is pleased to announce the installation of YoYo Berimbau at Art Interactive Gallery in Cambridge MA from July 26 - October 5, 2003 as part of the Engaging Characters show curated by Kathy Brew. The anthropomorphic YoYo plays a horizontal Berimbau equipped with a drum, pictured here and here. YoYo plays the drum like a tabla and a bass drum, bows the string and tilts the whole instrument, leaning into it for expression. Audience members can interact with YoYo by making sound rhythms which YoYo emulates (or mocks). Listen live here or here (streaming info ). YoYo has toured internationally and performed in Beth Custer's Vinculum Symphony.

Growing Raining Tree installation at Cincinnati

2003-05-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

ARW is pleased to announce the installation and ongoing exhibition of The Growing, Raining Tree at the new UnMuseum, part of the new Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati Ohio, curated by Lisa Buck. This commissioned work opened to the public May 3, 2003, and will operate for three years. The Tree is a servopneumatic, computer controlled aluminum, stainless steel and silicone rubber dynamic sculptural representation of a living, moving tree surrounded by a 20-foot diameter pool of water. The Tree watches for people approaching its pool and interacts with them by awakening, moving its four 10-foot-long three-jointed limbs to slowly dance and reach toward passersby, and by raining water from the tips of each of over sixty individual branches into the pool. The Tree was funded by a generous grant from Toyota Motor Manufacturing. Images can be viewed here, here, here, here. The Treecam, a live web camera which updates every 45 seconds, can be viewed here. The Tree operates during Contemporary Arts Center hours, 11am-6pm daily except Monday & Thursday 11am- 9pm.

Too Big, Cave, Skelli at Creteil and Maubeuge, FR

2003-02-12T12:28:00.000-08:00

ARW is pleased to announce upcoming performances of the Cave Of The Subconscious and Too Big Dog Monkey with unscheduled appearances by Skeletal Reflection.

Creteil, France (Paris) - Exit Festival, Maison des Arts de Cr�teil, February 26 - March 14, 2003
For additional information see http://www.maccreteil.com (PC+IE+flash required).

Maubeuge, France - Via Festival, Scene National Maubeuge, March 21 - 29, 2003
For additional information see http://www.lemanege.com/via2003/ - (flash required).

Too Big Dog Monkey is a mobile hydraulically powered 7-jointed computer-controlled member of the ARW family of sculpturally hybridized dog-monkeys. Fully extended, TBDM stretches 30 feet long from knuckle to tail. Like all ARW Dog-Monkeys, Too Big can wag her tail, wave her forearms, and walk in a monkeylike gait by dragging forward on knuckles. Two new offspring, one with articulated wrists and one which can stand on its hind legs, will interact with Too Big and the Cave.

Cave Of The Subconscious is a 30ft, 3-dimensional metal structure, home to 24 pneumatic and electric robots. Inspired by the images that reside in an ancestral subconscious, the cave�s inhabitants represent physical and metaphorical permutations of these uprisings of memory and lineage. As the machines perform, gesticulate, and navigate the cave�s interior, they symbolize the ways in which heredity and evolution affect human life. The installation allows the audience to enter this subconscious world of mechanical images and interact with the cave�s figures; acting not only as voyeurs, but as creative participants transforming the fantastical representations of their own ancestry.

Skeletal Reflection is a servo-controlled sculpture constructed of aluminum and plastic; it is pneumatically driven. Skeletal Reflection resembles a humanoid skeletal form. "Skelly" has 34 degrees of freedom including fully articulated hands, a fully articulated spine and the capacity of multiple facial expressions. A vision system allows an audience member to pose and interact with the machine's behaviors which include striking famous poses from art history.

ARW New Year's Party!

2002-12-31T07:15:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve Party: Chico MacMurtrie, Alex Rivera, and Cristina Ibarra invite you to celebrate New Year's Eve in an art and music filled church in Red Hook Brooklyn, at the most unique party since last year's. This year it's a super low-damage 'benefit' for the Smo-King Church, a desanctified Norwegian Seaman's Church which is the new home of Amorphic Robot Works, New York's top robot art research and development facility, led by Chico MacMurtrie.

In the Church, you will find:
** A robot art installation **
** Wood burning stoves and hot mulled drinks **
** Robotic percussionists **
** Video Projections by Art Jones **
** Music by 4 DJs spinning Latin Alternative, breakbeat Cumbia, electro banda, and alternatives to Latin **

All this for a measly (AND OPTIONAL/SLIDING SCALE) $10 contribution at the door. The money will go to help renovate the old church, which is an ongoing work in progress...

WHEN: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 From 9pm to 2am
WHERE:111 Pioneer Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY. Click here for driving directions. Between Richards and Van Brunt, next to Red Hook Park....Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Walking directions: Take the F or G to Smith/9th St. Exit station, go right on 9th St., go under the BQE (the big highway). Keep going on 9th. Turn right at Columbia St, turn left at Verona St, turn left at Richards St, then turn right on Pioneer St. Click here for a walking map.
Car Services: Court Express 237-8888, Columbia 834-6868
Call 718-403-9292 (Chico) 212-253-6273 (Alex) or 917 477 4498 (Cristina) If lost.

After another year of war-making and new war machines, come ring in the new year with machines that make love, not war.

ARW has moved!

2002-11-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

Amorphic Robot Works has moved to a new 4000 sq ft facility in Red Hook, a former Norwegian Seaman's Church. Our new address is:
111 Pioneer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231 -1610
The new phone number is:
718-403-9292

Directions without car: F or G-train to Smith & 9th, then bus #77 to Van Brunt.

Too Big Dog Monkey at Museo Del Barrio, NY

2002-11-05T07:22:00.000-08:00

Amorphic Robot Works is pleased to announce the presentation of Too Big Dog Monkey with new little Dog Monkey at El Museo Del Barrio in New York, October 24th through February 16th 2003 as part of El Museo's Bienal-The (S) Files/The Selected Files.

Too Big Dog Monkey is a mobile hydraulically powered 7-jointed computer-controlled member of the ARW family of sculpturally hybridized dog-monkeys. Fully extended, TBDM stretches 30 feet long from knuckle to tail. Like all ARW Dog-Monkeys, Too Big can wag her tail, wave her forearms, and walk in a monkeylike gait by dragging forward on knuckles. At El Museo Del Barrio, Too Big performs with a new little Dog Monkey featuring articulated wrists for steering; the two DM's interact in a call and response pattern. Under computer control, Too Big takes on a new life with some surprisingly subtle expressiveness, and little DM is a raucous and excitable agitator.

Skeletal Reflections at Munich

2002-11-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

Amorphic Robot Works is proud to have presented Skeletal Reflection at the Digital Crossover Festival presented at the Muffathalle, Munich from October 24th to 26th 2002. "Skelly" displayed many enhancements including new axes of motion in the wrists and forearms, a new 16-actuator face, and a vision system to allow Skeletal Reflections to respond visually to a human participant. This servo-controlled sculpture is constructed of aluminum and plastic and is pneumatically driven. Skeletal Reflection resembles a humanoid skeletal form. A vision system allows a participant to pose and interact with the machine's behaviors. "Skelly" has 34 degrees of freedom including fully articulated hands, a fully articulated spine and the capacity of multiple facial expressions. Designed to reflect commonality with humankind, some of the expressions this humanoid machine will manifest are fear, anger, joy, sorrow, surprise and impatience.

"Skeletal Reflection" was featured in the "Humankind" Exhibition at Expo2000 in Hannover Germany, where it operated daily from 1 June 2000 to 31 October 2000. Up to 30,000 viewers per day encountered the machine's graceful movements and its reflection upon continuous change of our natural environment.

Too Big Dog Monkey at BWAC

2002-05-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AMORPHIC ROBOT WORKS presents "Too Big Dog Monkey" at "PIER SHOW 10" Tenth Anniversary Art Exhibition presented by BWAC (Brooklyn Working Artists Coalition) Saturday May 18, 2002.

The "Too Big Dog Monkey" is a computer-controlled, 30-foot hydraulic female robot capable of cradling both human and robotic creatures within her rotating womb and throughout her internal body. Mobile jointed limbs and a balancing tail allow her to amble and navigate through space. She was created in San Francisco for "In the Steel Shadow with Zaccho Dance Theater" at Theater Artaud. The Dog Monkey has performed throughout Europe including "The Amorphic Evolution" for Art Futura in Madrid Spain and the Muffathalle in Munich, Germany.

A.R.W. invites you to the NYC Premiere this Saturday when it will stroll along the Brooklyn Waterfront backdropped with the view of the Statue of Liberty.

SATURDAY, MAY 18 2002 --Three 15 minute strolls at 12:30, 3:30, 4:30 (Free Admission)
LOCATION: 499 Van Brunt Street Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY

DIRECTIONS: F train to Smith/9th St., then B77 to corner of Van Dyke St. & Van Brunt St.
A or C train to Jay St./Borough Hall, then B61 bus toward Van Brunt to last stop.
By car, Brooklyn Bridge becomes Adams Street. Right onto Atlantic Avenue. Left onto Columbia Street. Right onto DeGraw. Left onto Van Brunt. Continue on Van Brunt to end.

Amorphic Robot Works is a collaborative group of artists, technicians, and programmers who create multi-faceted machine-sculptures that interact in their uniquely designed environments. Chico MacMurtrie, the Artistic Director, founded the group in 1992. The work involves a kinesthetic inquiry into the human condition, which has resulted in the creation of more than 200 mechanical sculptures that assume anthropomorphic and abstract form. In the last ten years, A.R.W. has expanded in many new and exciting directions, growing to encompass tours abroad, commissioned works, and robot-building workshops for children, while still emphasizing gallery exhibitions and the development of new pieces.

AMORPHIC ROBOT WORKS Studio/Laboratory:
[111 Pioneer St., Brooklyn, NY 11231 (718) 403-9292]
www.amorphicrobotworks.org

Chico MacMurtrie, Janette Wernegreen,
Frank Hausman, Tom Phillips, Eric Singer

PIER SHOW 10
Brooklyn Working Artists Coalition
PO Box 020072 Brooklyn, NY 11202-0002
www.bwac.org
Mary Barnes, Exhibition Chair
Audrey Frank Anastasi, President

ARW awarded Langlois Grant

2002-05-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

ARW has been awarded a grant by the Daniel Langlois Foundation to develop the Skeletal Reflections figure to full interactivity. Once completed, users will control the piece by posing their bodies. The sculpture will then either mimic the user's pose or assume the posture of a historical sculptural object. The Skeletal Reflections sculpture is a closed-loop servo-controlled pneumatically-actuated anthropomorphic figure in cast and welded aluminum. The Daniel Langlois Foundation (http://www.fondation-langlois.org) funds development of cutting-edge integration of art and technology.