Photo Gallery: ARTS Students Visit Robotic Church
Students in the Robots (re)Imagined ARTS course visited artist and roboticist Chico MacMurtrie in November to see his Robotic Church— and get a special look at the processes behind his latest project.
Last week, students in the ARTS course Robots (re)Imagined visited the Robotic Church, a major installation and performance piece by recent Ruckus Sessions guest Chico MacMurtrie, and got a special sneak peek into MacMurtrie's work-in-progress at Gowanus arts space Judgy Baby. Since the late 1980s, MacMurtrie has focused his artistic practice on the creation of sculptural robots which sit, spin, and even ‘play’ their own bodies as musical instruments.
Robots (re)Imagined, a course supported by Brown Arts Institute and co-taught by Brown Engineering Professor Nora Ayanian and RISD Professor Paula Gaetano-Adi, is a first of its kind collaboration between BAI, Brown, and RISD. Per its description on Courses@Brown, the course “operates as both studio and experimental research lab. Students design and program robots that move beyond utility, building machines that sense, act, and communicate in ways that unsettle boundaries between the technical and the aesthetic.”
Scroll through the photos below to get a glimpse of the class's experience this weekend, and be sure to follow us on Instagram at @baibrownu for more updates.
Students take in the church, which is located in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn. Photo by Peter Chenot.
Artist Chico Macmurtrie explains his work to students. Photo by Peter Chenot.
Chico MacMurtrie shows students the inner workings of his "inflatables lab" where he develops soft robotics. Photo by Peter Chenot.
MacMurtrie shows students a piece of equipment he is using to create a work-in-progress at Judgy Baby, an art space in Gowanus. Photo by Peter Chenot.
MacMurtrie uses reclaimed wood from the New York City area in his sculptural practice. Photo by Peter Chenot.
MacMurtrie invites a student from Robots (re)Imagined to demonstrate the tonal resonance of a reclaimed piece of wood by striking it. Photo by Peter Chenot.
MacMurtrie talks with BAI Associate Director Theresa Ganz and Paula Gaetano-Adi (in blue), one of the co-instructors of the Robots (re)Imagined course. Photo by Peter Chenot.
Students visiting the Robotic Church admire the project, which culminates many decades of MacMurtrie's work into one space. Photo by Peter Chenot.
Brown Engineering Professor Nora Ayanian (left) and RISD Professor Paula Gaetano-Adi (middle) greet MacMurtrie upon the class's arrival to Brooklyn. Photo by Peter Chenot.
MacMurtrie reconnected with students, who had previously met him for his Ruckus Session in October, during their visit to New York. Photo by Peter Chenot.
MacMurtrie offers students a peek at his upcoming project at Judgy Baby in Gowanus. Photo by Peter Chenot.
MacMurtrie speaks with students and the professors of Robots (re)Imagined. Photo by Peter Chenot.
About Behind the Scenes @ BAI
Behind the Scenes @ BAI is the Brown Arts Institute's editorial platform, offering a series of peeks at the art work behind the artworks. BAI presents the culmination of the creative process across many media (the performances, the exhibitions, the screenings), but we also celebrate the evolving, the in-progress, the iterative, and the time, research, and collaboration it takes to bring an idea to life. There's always something happening here: a candid conversation with a visiting scholar, a course visit to a church of robots, a team of specialists reshaping the Main Hall into a whole new venue for the next big show, artists conducting research in the Physical Media Lab. We're here to show you both the method and the madness.
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