Autopoiesis is an artificial intelligent robotic series of fifteen musical and robotic sculptures that interact with the public and modify their behaviors based on both the presence of the participants in the exhibition and the communication between each separate sculpture. They were commissioned by the Kiasma Museum Finland by curator Erkki Huhtamo for Aoataly Exhibition in 2000.
This series of robotic sculptures talk with each other through a hardwired network and audible telephone tones, which is a musical language for the group.
Autopoiesis is “self-making”, a characteristic of all living systems. This characteristic of living systems was defined and refined by Francisco Varella and Humberto Maturana.
Autopoiesis breaks out of standard interfaces (mouse) and playback methodologies (CRT) and presents an interactive environment, which is immersive, detailed, and able to evolve in real-time by utilizing feedback and interaction from the audience/participant members.
The interactivity engages the viewer/participant who in turn affects the interspecies evolution and emergence of the system. This creates a system evolution as well as an overall group sculptural aesthetic. The structures themselves are constructed of cabernet sauvignon grapevines pulled into compression with steel wires. The joints are a custom-molded urethane plastic, which is all tied together using cyanoacrylate and baking soda.
The grapevines were selected to create an approachable natural sculpture that exists in the human biological realm. Autopoiesis utilizes a number of unique approaches to creating this complex and evolving environment. It uses a smart sensor organization that senses the presence of the viewer/participant and allows the robotic sculpture to respond intelligently.
I have used smart sensor organization in past papers to describe the process of organizing the sensors in such a way that they can be minimized in number while maximizing the abilities of the software to cope with the data. This idea was also explored at the Fourth Neuromorphic Engineering workshop at the Telluride Summer Research Center where participants noted that just a few sensors can be used to create complex interaction if the sensors are properly organized.
EXHIBITIONS
VIDA Madrid Spain April 2012
Autopoiesis as part of the VIDA winners retrospective invited by Karin Ohlenschlager.
KIASMA MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART Helsinki, Finland. Feb. 2000
Alien Intelligence Exhibition curated by Erkki Huhtamo. Fifteen Arms of an artificial life robotic sculpture series commissioned by Kiasma museum. Invited.
LA MAISON d’AILLEURS, MUSEUM OF SCIENCE FICTION, UTOPIA & EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEYS Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland
Premiere of Enteric Consciousness, and the Pheromone Robot Stories animation and commissions, Autopoiesis, Spider Bots, Paparazzi Bots, Augmented Fish Reality, Machinic Diatoms & Our Daily Dread, invited by Director Patrick Gyger
ARCO ARTS FESTIVAL Madrid, Spain.
Autopoiesis installation sponsored by Fundacion Telephonic for VIDA 3.0.
AUSTRALIAN CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY Sydney, Australia.
Oct. 2000 curated by Leah Grycewicz. Displayed installation sponsor dlux Media Arts.
CENTER FOR THE ARTS, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY Camden New, Jersey.
Contemporary Art and Mathematical instinct curated by Peter SpoonerOne arm of
LILLE INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL France. Dec. 2003 – Mar. 2004
Autopoiesis, as part of an exhibit on robotic art curated by Richard Castelli. Invited.
TWEED MUSEUM OF ART, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, Duluth Minnesota. Nov. 4th 2003-Jan 4th 2004Contemporary Art and Mathematical instinct Curated by Peter Spooner one arm of Autopoiesis. Invited.
FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL VIA, Maubeuge, France. Mar. 2003
Curated by Richard Castelli. Displayed Autopoiesis, interactive robotic installation of 10 works with video installation. Invited.
FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL EXIT, Créteil, France. Feb. 2003
Curated by Richard Castelli. Displayed Autopoiesis, interactive robotic installation of 10 works with video installation. Invited.
BIENNALE ELECTRONIC ARTS AT JOHN CURTIN GALLERY, Perth, Australia. Aug. 2002
Immersion Exhibition curated by Chris Malcolm and Paul Thomas. Displayed 10 arms of Autopoiesis.
BANFF CENTER WALTER PHILIPS GALLERY, Alberta, Canada. Jun. 8th-July 2002,
Sentient Circuitry Exhibition curated by Melanie Townsend. DisplayedAutopoiesis and 1 Cybersqueek. Invited.
TRANSMEDIALE 01, Berlin, Germany. Feb. 2002
GO PUBLIC Exhibition curated by Susanne Jaschko. Displayed 10 arms of Autopoiesis
INTERSCULPT BIENNALE AT FIREFLY GALLERY, Dayton, Ohio. Nov. 2001
OK CENTRUM FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, ARS ELECTRONICA, Linz, Austria. Sep. 2001
CyberArts 2001 Exhibition. Juried. Displayed 10 arms of Autopoiesis with new video installation work coupled to the main installation. Honorary mention in the Interactive Art category, International Compendium Prix Ars Electronica.
HOPKINS HALL GALLERY, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, Columbus, Ohio. Dec. 2000
New Works Faculty Exhibition. Displayed two arms of Autopoiesis.
KIASMA MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, Helsinki, Finland. Feb. 2000
Alien Intelligence Exhibition curated by Erkki Huhtamo. Fifteen Arms of Autopoiesis is an artificial life robotic sculpture series commissioned by the Kiasma museum. Invited.
CREDITS
Design and 3D modeling: Ken Rinaldo
Construction: Ken Rinaldo
Hardware: Ken Rinaldo
Software: Ken Rinaldo
Chair recovering: Columbus
HARDWARE/TECHNIQUE
The brains and microcontrollers within Autopoiesis are custom embedded microcontrollers.
Design and programming: Ken Rinaldo
Construction: Ken Rinaldo
Software: John Marshal in c+
Hardware: John Marshal PIC Chips custom board
Custom cast urethane joints with a pull string mechanical system developed by Rinaldo and allowed the use of cyano acrylate and baking soda to create these interactive works.
SHOW DIMENSIONS
Full-size room 30 x 30 feet, with no intervening sound or projections. AC 115-220 HZ.
The minimum ceiling height is 12 feet without superstructure and 14 feet with the triangular superstructure
BIOLOGY
The grapevines have been completely fumigated under pressure and can be shipped internationally.
KEYWORDS
interactive, robots, touch, relaxation, artificial life
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Catalogs
Aoataly, Alien Intelligence, edited by Erkki Huhtamo, 2000.
Sentient Circuitry Banff, Machines, and Humans interact in Sentient Circuitry, 2002.
Books
DO ROBOTS DREAM OF SPRING? – The Art of Ken Rinaldo at the Maison d’Ailleurs. Retrospective with forward by Bruce Sterling and Patrick Gyger. Yverdon-Les-Bains: September 19, 2010, to March 20, 2011
Do Robots Dream of Spring? Ken Rinaldo exhibit at the Swiss Museum of Science Fiction September 21, 2010, by Nicolas Nova
Art and Electronic Media. by Edward Shanken London: Phaidon Press, 2009, 2011, 2014. 304 pages. ISBN 9780714847825
VIDA, Arte Y Vida Artificial 1999-2012, Telefonica, curated by Karin Ohlenschlager
The Art of Art History, A Critical Anthology, Editor Donald Preziosi, Oxford University Press, Article Maria Fernandez Life-Like: Historicizing Process and Responsiveness in Digital Art, pgs 484-485
History of Modern Art (after 1945), edited by Amelia Jones, published by Blackwell (London) in an Essay by Maria Fernandez on Digital Art with the image of Autopoiesis. Logos Verlag Berlin. ISBN:3-8325-0600-4
Postdigital Aesthetics: Art, Computation, And Design, edited by David M. Berry, Michael Dieter
Context Providers, Editors are V Vesna, M Lovejoy, and C Paul, published by Minnesota Press. Pg Reproduction of Autopoiesis.
Open System, Rethinking Art in the 1960s and 1970s, Edited by Donna De Salvo Tate Publishing, Publication May 2005 Autopoiesis illustrated in the context of an article by J.D Conner.
Digital Art by Christiane Paul, curator New Media Arts Whitney Museum by Thames and Hudson Spring 2003.
Book for the electronic arts by Arjen Mulder and Maaike Post, Holland, 2000.
Aesthetics and the Embodied Mind: Beyond Art Theory and the Cartesian Mind, edited by Alfonsina Scarinzi, pgs 308
Reviews
DE PESQUISA EM EDUCAÇÃO, CULTURA E ARTES pg 142 Autopoiesis
Japó, abans i després, Disseny de catàleg sobre Japó by Marc Palacious, 2011, pg 44 Autopoiesis
Enventara El Futuro: Arte Electicicidad Nuevos Medios by Edward A Shanken, Autopoiesis page 86.
Sommerer and Mignonneau. Living systems, 2011 Actar Publishing, pg 21 Autopoiesis
We Live in Public ArFutura 2010, pg 27 by Monia Bello, Autopoiesis
Breakfast Television, Edmonton Alberta Canada interviewed by Bridgette Ryan, coverage of Autopoiesis June 22nd, 2007
CTV Television Inc. Interview about Autopoiesis at Air Museum by Sienna Collins, June 24th, 2007
Make Magazine: Ken Rinaldo – robotic sculptures, interactive art inspired by natural systems, By Phillip Torrone March 20th, 2007
http://www.elniuton.com, Art Design, Science and Technology by Luis Cermeño Ken Rinaldo, Cuando lo Orgánico y lo Tecnológico confluyen
CBC Radio Canada Interview about Autopoiesis by Peter Brown June 23rd, 2007
Vue Weekly Magazine, “Cybernetic Ballet of Ken Rinaldo’s Autopoiesis” at the works by Mary Christa O’Keefe.
NY Arts Magazine, Interview of Regine Debatty January/February 2007 by Ken Rinaldo
Reliable Plant Magazine, Ohio State professor gives birth to robotic spiders, 1/2007
NY Arts Magazine, by David Halsell, Autopoiesis Mar./Apr. 2006, Vol. 11, No.3/4
ZAART: Russian No 11 Interview in Russian pgs 29-32 2006
Kunst aus dem Labor. Zum Verhältnis von Kunst und Wissenschaft im Zeitalter der Technoscience“ (Art emerging from the Lab.) by Ingeborg Reichle 6 pages on Autopoiesis and The Flock, published by Springer Verlag Wien, Oct. 2004
TELEVISION & RADIO
Robots: Robot Art Interviewer David St-Onge 2011
http://www.robotspodcast.com/podcast/2011/09/robots-robot-art-iii/
http://www.euranet.eu/eng/programme/English-Programmes/Network-Europe-Extra-7-February 2010
Breakfast Television, Edmonton Alberta Canada interviewed by Bridgette Ryan, coverage of Autopoiesis June 22nd, 2007
CTV Television Inc. Interview about Autopoiesis at Air Museum by Sienna Collins, June 24th, 2007
CBC Radio Canada Interview about Autopoiesis by Peter Brown June 23rd, 2007
Channel 1 NRK Norway Frokost-TV coverage of the Autopoiesis installation at the TEKS Trondheim Matchmaking Arts Festival as reported by Eva Lavkoy Oct 14, 2006
Terra GUM TV interview about Autopoiesis as part of Transmediale 02 Berlin.
Sat 1TV & Radio Germany, interview about Autopoiesis as part of Transmediale 02 Berlin.
National Public Radio, coverage of Autopoiesis as part of Intersculpt Biennale, Dayton Ohio, 2002.
Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Channel 1, interview about Autopoiesis as part of Ars Electronica, 2001.
Telivixija Slovenia TV and Radio interview about Autopoiesis as part of Ars Electronica.
Treffpunkt, Kultur, Channel 2, Austria, 2001.
CyberBang TV, Program on Digital Art, Italy, 2001.
ORF, Austrian Broadcasting Corporation footage of Autopoiesis, 2001.
Caiga Quien TV, Caiga Spain, coverage of ARCO Spain Installation, 2001.
Canal Plus TV, coverage of ARCO Spain Installation, 2001.
Menudo Magazine TV. Channel 3 Italian TV, 2001.
CNN Europe coverage of ARCO Spain Installation, 2001.
TV2 Spain; La Noticias Cadina TVE Spain, 2001.
VIA Digital coverage of ARCO Spain Installation, 2001.
Channel 1 Sweden TV Reviews of Autopoiesis at the Kiasma Museum in Finland, Feb. 2000.
National Public Radio Soundings review of Intersculpt Biennale and Autopoiesis