a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
Robots created by artists and / or used in art.
Prosopographus Selected extract from the full post by Patrick Feaster here. Between 1820 and 1835, a machine was exhibited around Great Britain that was advertised as taking people’s portraits by strictly automatic means. Someone had only to pay a shilling and sit perfectly still next to it for the space of a minute to obtain …
Read More “1820 – Prosopographus, the Automaton Artist – Charles Hervé”
Anthropomorphicals I and II. 1964. Plexiglass and Aluminum. 65in. x 20in. x 24in. Richard Feigen Gallery, New York. 1965. Source: Beyond Modern Sculpture – Jack Burnham 1968 It would be misleading to classify [Hans] Haacke as an artist primarily devoted to applying cybernetic principles to mechanical artifacts; rather his interests are in those cyclical processes …
Read More “1964-5 – Robot Art – Enrique Castro-Cid (Chilean)”
Akira Kanayama’s painting machine from 1957 was a four-wheeled device that Kanayama could remote-control to create paintings approximately 180 by 280 cm. The canvas lay on the floor and the machine dripped and poured paint on the picture pane. The painting machine is an early example of the machine/robot in the role of artist. Kanayama’s …
Read More “1957 – Remote-Controlled Painting Machine – Akira Kanayama (Japanese)”
Cosme, le chevalier de lumière… est le dernier né et le géant des automates. Nous voilà bien loin des premières poupées articulées. Cosme n'est pas seulement colossal (5 m. de haut, 1.350 kg), il a de l'ambition et veut synthétiser en lui l'humanité présente et future dans le contexte technique qui est le nôtre. Animé …
Read More “1971 – “COSME” – Le Chevalier de L’Espace – Jeanne Renucci-Convers (French)”
U&lc. Illustrated by Murray Tinkelman, December 1979 I love machinery. I love drawings, photographs and diagrams of machinery, particularly diagrams. They look important, they demand respect, and they inspire confidence. How dare anyone doubt that those dotted lines, those beautiful arrows, and the mystically placed little uppercase letters indicate something of great but obscure significance? …
Read More “1978 – “Mechanimals” Illustrations – Murray Tinkelmann (American)”