SRL is 25 years old!!??!? When will I be issued my cane and liverspots? I picked up the curmudgeon attitude early.
The SRL piece that really infatuated (disturbed?) me was the rabbot, a dead rabbit with a moving mechanical skeleton that animated it. I stared at grainy 8th generation VHS of that over and over and over again.
I know some people who went to one of SRL's impromptu events in a California parking lot. They felt that art was finally dangerous in a literal sense. The machines moved in such a random sense and pieces of metal flew off in all directions. Imagine Battlebots (which owes more than a little debt to SRL) without any sort of protective barrier in front of the audience
I first learned of SRL performances from a handfull of instructors in art school. That was my intro to the cult of SLR. Just mind blowing machines. We were shown a video clip, Mark talks about where they find all the parts and material to build these things and I'll never forget what he said. "We get our stuff mostly through obtainium....Y'know, we buy it, find it, or...uhm...obtain it." I got the impression some of the stuff was very hard to by. They also did a performance at OCAD years ago, which is still talked about like it was yesterday. Great link. Thanks!
Yes, I'm quite disturbed by their (ab)use of animals as well. However, I think the project is stunning and it makes me very happy.
I remember hearing (can't confirm, alas) that they try to structure crashes and accidents so that they fall toward the outskirts of the performing arena, where the people who haven't paid to watch are standing.
I forgot to post this with the original -- the Air Force wishes it was SRL.
What was the name of that art rag? REsearch? Really good.
I know a guy (who now lives in NY and makes films that nobody's interested in watching) who was an explosion artist. He was artist-in-residence at a uni I went to. First thing he did was to explode a big hole in his door so he could be observed at any time. (Aka "accountability", at least in *his* dictionary.) The administration went apoplectic.
I meet far too many sensible people these days.
The SRL piece that really infatuated (disturbed?) me was the rabbot, a dead rabbit with a moving mechanical skeleton that animated it. I stared at grainy 8th generation VHS of that over and over and over again.
I know some people who went to one of SRL's impromptu events in a California parking lot. They felt that art was finally dangerous in a literal sense. The machines moved in such a random sense and pieces of metal flew off in all directions. Imagine Battlebots (which owes more than a little debt to SRL) without any sort of protective barrier in front of the audience