$IGNAL$ 021: THE MACHINE HAS A ROLE.
A museum elevator, a symphony orchestra and a smartphone swipe are becoming stages for machine behavior. Three projects this week show what happens when technology is given something specific to do in front of an audience.
THE ELEVATOR ANSWERS
At New York’s New Museum, Ho Tzu Nyen has placed P for Power: Up Down in the glass-front elevators. Pressing a floor button brings a child figure onto the screen to deliver a question, riddle or reflection. An AI system generates a new image sequence with each interaction.
The work is part of a Hyundai-backed collaboration between the New Museum and the Ulsan Art Museum. Its companion installation opens in Korea on October 22. In New York, the artwork begins with an action visitors already know how to perform.
THE ORCHESTRA GETS A NEW COLLABORATOR
Tod Machover’s already and not yet premieres with the Boston Symphony Orchestra October 22–24. MIT Media Lab says a live AI system, designed by researcher Manaswi Mishra, will collaborate with each musician.
This is a more demanding proposition than putting generated imagery behind a concert. The technology has a part in the performance itself. How clearly that part comes across to listeners will be worth paying attention to.
THE ROBOT SCROLLS FOR YOU
Tjep.’s Infinite Scroll, on view at Dutch Design Week, consists of six kinetic robots operating real smartphones. In one piece, an articulated arm swipes every sixty seconds and advances a clock by one minute.
The mechanism makes a familiar reflex oddly visible. Instead of asking visitors to interact with another screen, Tjep. asks them to watch a machine do what they might otherwise do without thinking.
THE SIGNAL
The useful test for a technology-led experience is whether someone can describe what the system does without naming the software. Here, a button summons a character, AI joins an orchestra, and a robot performs a habitual swipe. The behavior carries the idea.
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ROT$ builds creative experiences around what people actually do, notice and remember. Tell us what you are trying to make possible: rots@rotsworldwide.com
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