a history of cybernetic animals and early robots
The Womaniser, now owned by the Tate Gallery, which was inspired by 'wondering what it would be like to be a hermaphrodite and make love to myself. It had six breasts and rubber gloves that inflated every 30 seconds'. A life-sized figure, assembled out of inflatables and prosthetics, has been strapped to a dentist’s chair. …
1980-1 – Mark Fisher – Teacher – "The Wall" The Architects' journal: Volume 196, Issues 14-21 – 1992 The work of mechanical engineer Jonathan Park and architect Mark Fisher, who together form the rock set specialists Fisher Park. This pair met as teachers at the Architectural Association in 1976, a time of radical experimentation. Among …
Source: Mark Fisher: staged architecture by Eric Holding – 2000 Dynamat Whilst studying for his Diploma at the AA (1969-71) under Peter Cook, Fisher continued to investigate the potential of inflatable technology, and took a particular interest in the way it could create environments able to respond quickly to a user's changing physical …
Read More “1971 – “Dynamat” – Mark Fisher & Simon Conolly (British)”
Source: Mark Fisher: staged architecture by Eric Holding – 2000 Inflatables and Structures Fisher had seen his first anthropomorphic inflatable Mother of the Arts in 1966. It was an inflatable woman designed by fellow Architectural Association students for the annual Lord Mayor's procession. It was based on Jean Tinguely's She, a long, hollow reclining woman …
Read More “1968-9 – “Automat” – Mark Fisher & David Harrison (British)”
Popular Science Jul 1985. Humanoid? Android? Robot? The terminology may not be well-defined, but in any event, Jon Barron, a British engineer, has dubbed his prototype anthropomorphic robot McAndroid the Android. Barron appears with his creation in the photo above. Although he figures that the market for the manlike machine will be the entertainment industry …