February 25, 2008

Purdue Galleries exhibits Spider Bots, interactive installations

"Augmented Fish Reality"
Download photo
caption below

Artist Ken Rinaldo, an associate professor of art and technology at Ohio State University, has achieved international acclaim for his interactive robotic sculptures and installations. He will present exhibitions in both the Stewart Center Gallery and the Robert L. Ringel Gallery in the Purdue Memorial Union from March 3 through April 20.

"Autotelematic Spider Bots" will be presented in the Stewart Center Gallery. The Spider Bots are five spider-like sculptures that interact with the public in real-time and self-modify their behaviors based on their interaction with the viewer, themselves and their environment. They "see" with long-distance ultrasonic eyes and shorter distance infrared eyes.

They twitter like birds or crickets and have a flexible and expressive neck that rocks back and forth. They were modeled in 3-D software and output in flexible rapid prototyping plastics and define a new morphology for a hexapod robot never before attempted, said Craig Martin, director of Galleries. They have been exhibited in England as well as the United States.

The Spider Bots will function for 15-minute periods at 10:30 a.m. and at 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. daily.

In the Robert L. Ringel Gallery, Rinaldo will install "Machinic Drift," a grouping of various interactive works and imagery. The exhibit will include a series of 3-D imaging works representing potential nano robotic phantasmagorical forms titled the "Machinic Diatoms;" "Augmented Fish Reality," an interactive installation of rolling robotic fish-bowl sculptures, in which sensors mounted in their bowls allow Siamese fighting fish to move their tripod stands anywhere they desire and interact with their environment; and "Our Daily Dread," an interactive work of electronic sound work sculptures and pig and cow ears concerned with the mechanization of food production as humans reach critical stages of overwhelming the planet's ability to feed the world's population.

"The evolution of my artwork involves the development of unique robotic interfaces for humans and other species, as well as constantly evolving approaches to artificial-life programming techniques and interactions with biological systems," Rinaldo said. "My artistic research has confirmed that the ultimate inspirational models for thinking about technological systems are natural living systems."

 At 5:30 p.m. March 3, the artist will present a lecture on his research and artworks in Stewart Center, Room 206. The lecture will be immediately followed by a reception in the Stewart Center Gallery.

The Robert L. Ringel Gallery and the Stewart Center Gallery are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday; and from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. The Ringel and Stewart Center galleries will be closed from March 8-16 for the university's spring break. For class or group visits, contact Mary Ann Anderson from Purdue Galleries at (765) 496-7899. All Purdue Galleries exhibitions and events are free and open to the public.

Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Source: Craig Martin, (765) 494-3061, cdmartin@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

PHOTO CAPTION:
Ken Rinaldo, "Augmented Fish Reality" 2004 at Ars Electronica. (Courtesy of the artist)

A publication-quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2008/galleries-fishreality.jpg

To the News Service home page