March 24, 2008

Kinetic Sculpture Vs. Robotics -- What's the Difference?

In Thoughts on Curating - How to Bring About a Shift in Perception, Anna Brady Nuse writes about the benefits of attending curated dance film festivals:

Creating special programs of films that are organized around a specific idea helps to provide a lens for viewing work in a different way. By grouping films under a new name, you can imbue them with meanings they didn't necessarily have before.

Kinetic Sculpture Vs. Robotics

The following YouTube video "Boston Dynamics Big Dog" will soon be watched more than three million times. Big Dog, a large robot propelled by its four legs, crosses snow, ice, hills and other terrain and manages to continue even after slipping. It's disturbing to watch the 36 second mark when Big Dog is kicked and almost falls over. Overall, the generated sounds, unaesthetic housing for the robot, and outdoor and indoor test environments don't make for much of an artistic experience. It feels more like we're in a research lab with innovative scientists that want to push the frontiers of computerized mobility.

Theo Jansen is a kinetic sculpture. Here are two wonderful videos that show his wind-powered intricate sculptures made of plastic tubing. I'd like to see higher-quality videos of his work to have a better understanding of how the many parts interact as his kinetic sculpture is propelled across the landscape. I find his work fascinating and visually intriguing. But I wouldn't be distributed if somebody kicked Jansen's sculpture -- at least not in the same way as I was with Big Dog. [via Fresh Creations]

And here's a BMW ad featuring Theo Jansen [via Fresh Creations]

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