How Artists Improvise and Provoke Robotics

Benford, Steve; Garrett, Rachael; Schneiders, Eike; Tennent, Paul; Chamberlain, Alan; Avila, Juan; Brundell, Pat; Castle-Green, Simon

Abstract

We explore transdisciplinary collaborations between artists and roboticists across a portfolio of artworks. Brendan Walker's Bronco-matic was a breath controlled mechanical rodeo bull ride. Blast Theory's Cat Royale deployed a robot arm to play with a family of three cats for twelve days. Different Bodies is a prototype improvised dance performance in which dancers with disabilities physically manipulate two mirrored robot arms. We reflect on these to explore how artists shape robotics research through the two key strategies of improvisation and provocation. Artists are skilled at improvising extended robot experiences that surface opportunities for technology-focused design, but which also require researchers to improvise their research processes. Artists may provoke audiences into reflecting on the societal implications of robots, but at the same time challenge the established techno-centric concepts, methods and underlying epistemology of robotics research.

Citation

Benford, S., Garrett, R., Schneiders, E., Tennent, P., Chamberlain, A., Avila, J., Brundell, P., & Castle-Green, S. (2024, October). How Artists Improvise and Provoke Robotics. Poster presented at 16th International Conference on Social Robotics + AI (ICSR + AI) 2024, Odense, Denmark

• Presentation Conference Type: Poster
• Conference Name: 16th International Conference on Social Robotics + AI (ICSR + AI) 2024
• Start Date: Oct 23, 2024
• End Date: Oct 26, 2024
• Acceptance Date: Sep 10, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Oct 25, 2024
• Publication Date: Nov 25, 2024
• Deposit Date: Oct 27, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 26, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/41133243
• External URL: https://icsr2024.dk/