[artinfo] HORIZON ZERO: MIMIC

Wed, 18 Sep 2002 19:05:08 +0200

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The Banff Centre and Canadian Heritage are pleased to present the second=20
issue of HORIZON ZERO

<http://www.horizonzero.ca/>www.horizonzero.ca

a Web space dedicated to digital art and culture in Canada

Horizon Two: Mimic:

Imitators of life: robots, automata, and cyborgs

Directed by Daniel Canty

*************

R O B O T S !

What are little robots made of?

"To this day, robots do what we tell them, and nothing beyond what we=20
ourselves can understand. Indeed, whatever they do, robots have limited=20
selves: it is a fact that many of them, rather than having arms or legs or=
=20
eyes, are arms or legs or eyes."

(Daniel Canty, from his column Binomes)

Utopian dreams and war machines, that=92s what little robots are made of.

"The robot often embodies the psychological disorder and trauma of human=20
life=85The world is at war, and our machines are helping. Our technologies=
=20
are often the children of violence, yet escape the battlefield to find=20
peacetime applications."

(Sara Diamond, from the column Quintessence)

*****************

A U T O M A T A !

What are 19th century automata stories made of?

"Stories about artificial beings... are frequently set in a European and=20
gothic d=E9cor, and generally involve a deranged scientist experimenting on=
=20
the mind and/or body of a romantic victim whose fianc=E9e generally suffers=
=20
terribly."

(Excerpt from the American Automata)

B-movie scenes with inorganic beings, that=92s what little automata stories=
=20
are made of.

"It is the stories concerned with "inorganic" beings that I now invite you=
=20
to discover=85the imaginative precursors of the robots, cyborgs and aliens=
 of=20
the twentieth century."

(Excerpt from the American Automata)

***************

C Y B O R G S !

What are little cyborgs made of?

"Stelarc merges his body with the machine at the thresholds of pain and=20
fear, embrace and surrender=85His capstone piece is the Third Hand: clamped=
=20
to his right forearm like a living pirate hook, controlled by his stomach=20
and thigh muscles through a network of wires ... I feel his hooks and wires=
=20
and machinery imposed upon my own body, and my flesh creeps."

(Jim Bizzocchi, from his review of the Vancouver Art Gallery=92s Uncanny=20
exhibition)

Soft machines and uncanny dreams, that=92s what little cyborgs are made of.

"William S. Burroughs wrote that the body was a soft machine invaded by=20
parasites. This oxymoron expresses perfectly the reality that cybernetics=20
has slowly =97 but with increasing speed =97 developed around (and in) us=
 for=20
the last few decades."

(Jean-Fran=E7ois Chassay, from his review of Arsenal Pulp Press=92 The=
 Uncanny)

************************************

S E N T I E N T C I R C U I T R Y !

HORIZON TWO: MIMIC is a place where human and artificial intelligences sit=
=20
head to head in a really ripping game of chess. What=92s at stake? Only the=
=20
future of life as we know it. Will it be carbon or silicon based, or will=20
we finally witness the evolution of some weird cybernetic splice of the=20
two? Who will end up imitating who? Who can say?

All we know is that inside this latest issue of Horizon Zero you will find=
=20
the sympathetic (or are they just manipulating us?) robots of the Banff=20
Centre=92s SENTIENT CIRCUITRY exhibition, plus a phantasmagoric B-movie=20
bestiary of 19th century ARTIFICIAL PERSONS, plus reports of the Vancouver=
=20
Art Gallery=92s strange yet hauntingly familiar exhibit THE UNCANNY:=20
EXPERIMENTS IN CYBORG CULTURE.

There=92s also an interactive imitation of a very HELPLESS ROBOT, some=
 clever=20
cyborg POETRY, post-apocalyptic IMAGES in digitized paint, people who fix=20
BROKEN TOASTERS, and exquisite rants from our columnists about deficient=20
ELECTRONIC BRAINS and ROBOTIC CATS.

Plus, since we=92re terribly serious about all this, we=92ve asked two very=
=20
respectable scientists to write for our new TRANSFERENCES column about the=
=20
links between art, engineering=85and ants!

Toss in a whole army of cute robots, cartoon robots, freaked-out robots,=20
vengeful killer robots, and robots who just want to be loved (not to=20
mention more chess references than you can handle) and what you=92ve got is=
=20
no tin-can imitation: it=92s HORIZON TWO: MIMIC.

Checkmate, Monsieur Kasparov. Or did you say your name was Asimov?

What we seem to be is not what we are=85

it=92s what the robots think we are.

*****

Also coming soon to <http://www.horizonzero.ca/>www.horizonzero.ca :

Horizon 3: Invent: Our October looks at the very nervous (and very human)=20
systems of Canadian interactive artist David Rokeby.

*****

Have a friend who likes mimicking machines? Tell them to visit=20
<http://www.horizonzero.ca/>www.horizonzero.ca and subscribe =97 its free,=
 as=20
it will always be=20
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Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<html>
 
The Banff Centre and Canadian Heritage are pleased to present the second
issue of HORIZON ZERO 
 
<a href=3D"http://www.horizonzero.ca/">www.horizonzero.ca</a> 
 
a Web space dedicated to digital art and culture in Canada 
 
&nbsp; 
 
Horizon Two: Mimic: 
 
Imitators of life: robots, automata, and cyborgs 
 
Directed by Daniel Canty 
 
************* 
 
R O B O T S ! 
 
What are little robots made of? 
 
&quot;To this day, robots do what we tell them, and nothing beyond what
we ourselves can understand. Indeed, whatever they do, robots have
limited selves: it is a fact that many of them, rather than having arms
or legs or eyes, are arms or legs or eyes.&quot; 
 
(Daniel Canty, from his column Binomes) 
 
Utopian dreams and war machines, that=92s what little robots are made
of. 
 
&quot;The robot often embodies the psychological disorder and trauma of
human life=85The world is at war, and our machines are helping. Our
technologies are often the children of violence, yet escape the
battlefield to find peacetime applications.&quot; 
 
(Sara Diamond, from the column Quintessence) 
 
***************** 
 
A U T O M A T A ! 
 
What are 19th century automata stories made of? 
 
&quot;Stories about artificial beings... are frequently set in a European
and gothic d=E9cor, and generally involve a deranged scientist
experimenting on the mind and/or body of a romantic victim whose fianc=E9e
generally suffers terribly.&quot; 
 
(Excerpt from the American Automata) 
 
B-movie scenes with inorganic beings, that=92s what little automata stories
are made of. 
 
&quot;It is the stories concerned with &quot;inorganic&quot; beings that
I now invite you to discover=85the imaginative precursors of the robots,
cyborgs and aliens of the twentieth century.&quot; 
 
(Excerpt from the American Automata) 
 
*************** 
 
C Y B O R G S ! 
 
What are little cyborgs made of? 
 
&quot;Stelarc merges his body with the machine at the thresholds of pain
and fear, embrace and surrender=85His capstone piece is the Third Hand:
clamped to his right forearm like a living pirate hook, controlled by his
stomach and thigh muscles through a network of wires ... I feel his hooks
and wires and machinery imposed upon my own body, and my flesh
creeps.&quot; 
 
(Jim Bizzocchi, from his review of the Vancouver Art Gallery=92s Uncanny
exhibition) 
 
Soft machines and uncanny dreams, that=92s what little cyborgs are made
of. 
 
&quot;William S. Burroughs wrote that the body was a soft machine invaded
by parasites. This oxymoron expresses perfectly the reality that
cybernetics has slowly =97 but with increasing speed =97 developed around
(and in) us for the last few decades.&quot; 
 
(Jean-Fran=E7ois Chassay, from his review of Arsenal Pulp Press=92 The
Uncanny) 
 
************************************ 
 
S E N T I E N T C I R C U I T R Y ! 
 
HORIZON TWO: MIMIC is a place where human and artificial intelligences
sit head to head in a really ripping game of chess. What=92s at stake? Only
the future of life as we know it. Will it be carbon or silicon based, or
will we finally witness the evolution of some weird cybernetic splice of
the two? Who will end up imitating who? Who can say? 
 
All we know is that inside this latest issue of Horizon Zero you will
find the sympathetic (or are they just manipulating us?) robots of the
Banff Centre=92s SENTIENT CIRCUITRY exhibition, plus a phantasmagoric
B-movie bestiary of 19th century ARTIFICIAL PERSONS, plus reports of the
Vancouver Art Gallery=92s strange yet hauntingly familiar exhibit THE
UNCANNY: EXPERIMENTS IN CYBORG CULTURE. 
 
There=92s also an interactive imitation of a very HELPLESS ROBOT, some
clever cyborg POETRY, post-apocalyptic IMAGES in digitized paint, people
who fix BROKEN TOASTERS, and exquisite rants from our columnists about
deficient ELECTRONIC BRAINS and ROBOTIC CATS. 
 
Plus, since we=92re terribly serious about all this, we=92ve asked two very
respectable scientists to write for our new TRANSFERENCES column about
the links between art, engineering=85and ants! 
 
Toss in a whole army of cute robots, cartoon robots, freaked-out robots,
vengeful killer robots, and robots who just want to be loved (not to
mention more chess references than you can handle) and what you=92ve got is
no tin-can imitation: it=92s HORIZON TWO: MIMIC. 
 
Checkmate, Monsieur Kasparov. Or did you say your name was Asimov? 
 
What we seem to be is not what we are=85 
 
it=92s what the robots think we are. 
 
***** 
 
Also coming soon to
<a href=3D"http://www.horizonzero.ca/">www.horizonzero.ca</a> : 
 
Horizon 3: Invent: Our October looks at the very nervous (and very human)
systems of Canadian interactive artist David Rokeby. 
 
***** 
 
Have a friend who likes mimicking machines? Tell them to visit
<a href=3D"http://www.horizonzero.ca/">www.horizonzero.ca</a> and subscribe
=97 its free, as it will always be </html>

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