Here’s conceptual art you gotta love. Or maybe it’s sociology with an artist’s flair. This is the concept from art student Kacie Kinzer:
In New York, we are very occupied with getting from one place to another. I wondered: could a human-like object traverse sidewalks and streets along with us, and in so doing, create a narrative about our relationship to space and our willingness to interact with what we find in it? More importantly, how could our actions be seen within a larger context of human connection that emerges from the complexity of the city itself? To answer these questions, I built robots.
Her “robots” are simple wind-up toys with a sign on a pole. They don’t fit the usual definition of being able to respond to their environment. But their environment—particularly the human environment—can surely respond to them. New Yorkers defied all the unfair stereotypes by helping the tweenbot on its mission to cross Washington Park:
See the web site for a number of still images, and future plans. YouTube already has a video clip of the first art of juxtaposition based on tweenbots. Leslie, maybe your show needs a bot.
NO WAY! It’s too cute and might outshine Hello Kitty ;0
Leslie:
Kitty Bot!
Jay
This little robot makes me so happy. I think if I saw him I’d want to follow him along and make sure he reaches his target… but I guess that defeats the purpose!
Beverley,
That’s what I thought when I first saw it–though I would follow at a distance and enjoy other people’s interactions. It’s kind of amazing how this simple object generates such a powerful emotional response. Something to learn there…