In collaboration with Jenna Bickhardt.
2019, Core Studio and Lab 2: Spatial, Online x Offline x Real x Virtual
Robotic Misb Kit, Video and Documentation booklet
Knowing the limitations with the Robotic Misb Kit, Jenna and Nasia chose to pursue ideas of a simplistic nature. Uncomplicated movements and actions should take center stage in our project. Thinking in this direction, they started to explore the possibilities of using robotic behavior to mimic human manoeuvre. At one point, Jenna and Nasia considered the action of reading. The irony of a robot reading seemed powerful to them. By completing a task as basic as turning pages in a book the technology is doing something associated to our unique physical and mental capabilities as civilization. It further suggests the idea of pursuing knowledge in the Information Age of today. The action of reading is in many aspects interesting, as it supports the development of the mind and generates the evolution of mankind.
"The Reading Robot" is divided into three scenes. In the first scene, the robot was human-controlled by two separate individuals. In the second, the movements were pre-recorded and then played. In the third and last, the movements of the robot was set to randomized.The first two scene showed similar patterns of movements. However, the last showed slow motion, which in a sense represented the reading process more. These different scenes suggest different methods the robot takes in reading the book. Moreover, its misbehavior and disobedience puts forward the stance of the robot being a creature of the indefinite. Every movement that it makes, the effects that it causes, are not definit, they are unpredictable.
