SOFT CONTROL » Louis-Philippe Demers

Louis-Philippe Demers

samo — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:58:06 +0000

Louis-Philip Demers’s project explores the phenomenon of unconscious bodily matter. Whether it makes up complex figures at stadiums and during military parades, or demonstrates cohesion in corporate labor – its programs are executed with the same mechanical precision. The precursor was the famous early 20th century dance troupe “Tiller Girls”, in which human performers are ‘called upon to exercise their technical skills but not their interpretive skills’.

Demers’s performance is a group of 12 small autonomous robots. These robots were developed in Artificial Intelligence for the study of gaits given minimal freedom of movements. The rationale behind the Tiller Girls is to explore the dichotomy of the man-machine. The robots can only balance their torsos and shoulders but they can yet achieve a large variety of expressions and behaviours.

Louis-Philippe Demers

samo — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:07:59 +0000

The Tiller Girls is a group of 12 small autonomous robots. These robots were developed in Artificial Intelligence for the study of gaits given minimal freedom of movements. The robots can only balance their torsos and shoulders but they can yet achieve a large variety of expressions and behaviors. Performers in the traditional performing arts such as music, dance and theatre are generally thought to have both technical skills and interpretive skills, where the latter skills are regarded as specific human skills.

Robotics: Raja Dravid, Max Lungarella, Dynamic Devices (CH). In collaboration with AI Lab Zürich. Producers: Interaction and Etertainement Research Centre, Digital Realities StartUp Grant (NTU).

Louis-Philippe Demers

samo — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:39:34 +0000

Artificial Mi(s)tosis is an artistic comment on the quest of verisimilitude found in geminoids and humanoids. It is reminiscent of some kind of mad science and the potential of biotech, nanotech, and artificial intelligence eugenics gone wrong. Paradoxically, this robotic artifact is directly derived from a specimen found in nature. It is a living frog found with multiple hind limbs as a product of parasitic infection and symptomatic of environmental degradation. Artificial Mi(s)tosis is an embodiment of an existing natural phenomena that, in turn, is perceived as a fictitious, almost otherworldly, species. It proposes a real artificial-life visualization of an uncanny natural-life living organism.

Concept: L.-P. Demers, Brandon Ballengee. Mechatronics: L.-P. Demers, Dennis Low, Royston Phang, Patrick Liew. Producers: Interaction and Entertainement Research Centre, Digital Realities StartUp Grant (NTU).