Artworks
Der Zermesser, 2007–2010
Leo Peschta
Austria
Robot (aluminium, steel, motors, electronics, batteries)
Leo Peschta (AU). Der Zermesser, 2007–2010. Autonomous robot, image courtesy the artist. 2010 Leo Peschta
Der Zermesser is a physical object whose purpose is to feel its way around and to articulate the relation between its own shape and its surroundings. By changing the length of its sides, this object breaks its own perfect symmetry and can feel the surrounding room with sensors attached to each of its corners. The knowledge of the position and the extension of the individual modules and of the interrelationship among their respective positions enables the entire object to move freely within the space by shifting its center of gravity.
Biography
Leo Peschta (b. 1978, Vienna, Austria) is an artist and a researcher. After studies of photography and graphic design, Leo Peschta graduated in digital media arts from the Academy of Applied Arts Vienna in 2007. During his studies he worked in all different fields of media-arts including sound, installations and software, developing over the years a special interest in the subject of robotics and machinery, which became the main field of his work. After his studies, he also started to work with the vienna based group “research center for shared incompetence” working on the messy and heterogeneous interfaces between science and society. His works have been exhibited at museums, festivals and galleries worldwide, including a solo exhibition at Ars Electronica - Tabakfabrik (Linz, 2010), Translife – The National Art Museum of China (Bejing, 2011), NIME (Oslo, 2011), Process as Paradigm, Museum Laboral (Gijon 2010), Artbots – Science Gallery (Dublin, 2008), un_space – Museum for Applied Arts Vienna (Vienna 2007). Leo Peschta has won several awards such as the robots choice award at Artbots 2008; honorary mention at VIDA13, an international competition on Art & Artificial Life; the Heinrich Klotz Stipendium ZKM Karlsruhe.
