Sentimental Machines - Kinesthetic Entanglements of the Performing Machine by Louis-Philippe Demers
Channel: Robotic Art
Date: 2021-07-08

Sentimental Machines - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation - June 4, 2021 – Online
Workshop Details: https://roboticart.org/icra2021/

Between embodiment and computation, assembling an expressive, emotional or sentimental machine entangles multiple layers. We share and identify to biological, social, and cultural experiences with performers on the stage. Kinaesthetic spectatorship offers a theoretical account of the sensorimotor and processes joining theatre spectators and performers in a dynamic of shared enactment. Applying principles of the experiential body found in creative practices towards human-machine mise-en-scènes, I will investigate these processes by shifting the context from theatre to performing robots.

What are these empathic motor resonances we have with the expressive machine? What are then the paths to trigger kinaesthetic resonance in audience from the mechanical? Can kinaesthetic empathy be found in an anatomically divergent or alternate mechanical body? What happens when we inject artificial constructions not only on the stage but also in tacitly human social scenarios?

Thru this kinaesthetic lens, I will present selected robotic projects entailing singular bodily experiences such as being touched by a robot (The Blind Robot), being controlled by an exoskeleton (Inferno), merging with machine (Devolution), merging proprioception between machine and human (Repeat, xLimbs) and being challenged by “feral” machines (I Like Robots, Robots Like me).

Having these radical encounters at the liminal space bordering man and machine, it forces audiences to (re)consider their human bodies, (re)visit their embodied experiences and (re)position their empathic reactions to non-living systems.

Bio:
Louis-Philippe Demers makes large-scale installations and performances. He participated in more than seventy artistic and stage productions and has built more than 375 machines. Demers’ works have been featured at major venues such as Theatre de la Ville, Lille 2004, Expo 1992 and 2000, Sonambiente, ISEA, Siggraph and Sonar. He received six mentions and one distinction at Ars Electronica, the first prize of Vida 2.0, mentions at Vida 12.0 and 15.0, two jury recommendations at the Japan Media Arts Festival, the Interactive prize for Lightforms 98 and six prizes for Devolution including two Helpmann Awards. Demers holds a Ph.D. on robotic performances. He was Professor at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe, affiliated to the world renowned Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM, Germany). Demers was the Director of the Creative Lab and Professor of Creative Innovation at the School of Creative Practice, Queensland University of Technology. Demers holds visiting/guest professorships from the University of the Ars London and in the past, at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and at the Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien. Demers was also principal investigator the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Interaction and Entertainment Research Centre. He is currently Associate Professor at NTU’s School of Art, Design and Media.