Output details

Performing with machines and machines that perform

The article develops conceptual and technical aspects of a project that combines performance art and robotics. It relates an original art practice that combines the two domains to study the co-evolution of humans and machines. Granjon has been involved in several exhibitions and performances that explore this area of research, and the work described is the latest of a series that started in 1996. The article provides detailed information about the conceptual background for several case studies, including artworks by the author. The main case study covers the ‘Sexed Robots’ (2005), a robotic artwork originally commissioned for the Venice Biennale that was exhibited internationally, with related publications, extensive blog references and more than 50,000 views on Youtube.The invitation to write the article followed a lecture given to the Post-Human research group of Cardiff University. The International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal that draws contributions from researchers and practitioners working in the field of new technologies with performance arts. The article provides a selection of references from art and science as well as pointers for the expansion of this, as yet, little explored field of investigation of performance and visual art with semi-autonomous machines.