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The Multiple Bodies of a Machine Performer

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Robots and Art

Part of the book series: Cognitive Science and Technology ((CSAT))

Abstract

This chapter examines the potentials arising from the embodiment of Machine Performers. Thru an analysis of a robotic reappropriation of the early 20th century dance ensemble named The Tiller Girls, I argue that alternate views of the body further the concept of embodiment as currently seen by artificial intelligence. The chapter first compares embodiment from the biological to the social and cultural. Second, it analyses the passage of a walking robot, nicknamed Stumpy, from the AI lab to the stage. It describes how the historical body of the Tiller Girls shifts the perception of audiences and how such inherited competence contributes to the interpretive skills of a machine. I discuss on intrinsic characteristics that make them perform as opposed to solely function. Finally, by shifting this scientific investigation on gaits towards the perception and reception of robot movements, I am exploring audience mechanisms of empathy and identification towards those non-human performers.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the text, the italicised The Tiller Girls refers to my own performance while the Tiller Girls points to the original ensemble.

  2. 2.

    Nellhaus calls this “corporate agency”.

  3. 3.

    Auslander’s body of work deconstructs the concept of “live performance”.

  4. 4.

    These, like happenings, are task-based, non-representational events, where a performer does not feign or present any role, but is simply being himself or herself, carrying out tasks.

  5. 5.

    http://astro.temple.edu/%7Etshipley/mocap.html.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, 81 Nanyang Dr., 4-31, Singapore, 637458, Singapore

    Louis-Philippe Demers

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  1. Louis-Philippe Demers
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Correspondence to Louis-Philippe Demers .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Edu.,Sci, Tech and Maths, University of Canberra, Canberra, Aust Capital Terr, Australia

    Damith Herath

  2. Lab, School of Design and Art, Curtin University, Alternate Anatomies, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Christian Kroos

  3. Lab, School of Design and Art, Curtin University, Alternate Anatomies, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Stelarc

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Demers, LP. (2016). The Multiple Bodies of a Machine Performer. In: Herath, D., Kroos, C., Stelarc (eds) Robots and Art. Cognitive Science and Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0321-9_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0321-9_14

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0319-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0321-9

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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