AT THE
EDGE OF CHAOS is a subset of a wider study on robotic genderization
through metaphoric animal-like behavior. In the present case, four machines
seem to fight for a piece of meat or dead animal: they are bulky and
noisy scavengers. The piece of meat is a steel cube simultaneously pushed
back and forth by four pneumatic actuators where the friction of the
cube against the floor generates a high repetitive pitch.
The machines are sinked into a trap in the middle of the space. Viewers
can walk above the trap since a grid covers the opening and enables
the audience to see through, beneath their feet. The robots behavior
is altered by the viewer's presence and sometimes totally independent
and autonomous.
Hanging from the ceiling and spreaded evenly around the trap, eight
infrared sensors track the audience and trigger sound and light effects.
Each sensor is associated to a speaker and a light source, giving a
coherent unit which helps interaction perception and understanding (stimulus-response
reactivity).
The piece is based on a continuous loop of 10 minutes. However, each
loop becomes unique through the various and unpredicted stimuli from
the environment and through the artificial behaviors embedded in the
program. These cycles are then always different though based on a common
workframe.
