My Own Hideous Progeny

My current goal, to create some form of automata, stems from fusing ideas of the corps esquisse and the research gained through the study of Frankenstein/Hephaestus/Prometheus. I feel that it could be compelling to create an autonomous being, fully capable of reacting/responding to its stimuli. While it is unlikely that the 'feeling' that I'm interested in might not be achievable through any means other than fiction, the piece could function much in the same way as the project completed in Montreal - the autonomous whale that responded to its environment and created its opus through the external conditions that were present.
The challenge in fusing this project with the theory of the corps esquisse lies in keeping the piece free of my current preconceptions of "what" is a body, mind, heart, eye, etc. I have therefore established a framework for keeping "body pieces" randomized:

• at this point, I am trying to maintain that all objects used are found objects.
• all major components should come from beings that are of the same "species" as the elmo circuit that I'm starting with - namely toys.
• right now, I am restricting all major components to pieces that are composed as bodies. I think that it would be excellent to see how things can fit together, especially in ways that are alien to the current construction of the pieces (namely, the arm is an arm in the casing, but can it act as an ear?)

More restrictions will be added if I find that I need to restrict this further.

Le Corps Esquisse

Le corps esquisse, defined as "The exquisite corpse" (esquisse can also be translated to 'sketch') is a surrealist game that involves different people composing one "body" - being drawing or text. In drawing form, the game begins with one person composing the head of a being, and then folding the drawing to keep it hidden. The next then composes the torso of the being, ignorant to the head; the next draws the legs with no knowledge of the previous drawings. While the result is an absurd image, the exercise breaks preconceived ideas about the form of a "body."

History Timeline

The text is similar, as are the images, but I felt that it was appropriate to post the graphic timeline of my research thus far. It has been broken down into a literary timeline, and spiritual - linking the findings from Frankenstein, to Hephaestus, to Prometheus, and back.

posted by chelsea @ 12:36 PM