Machine Wilderness

Machine Wilderness project by FO.AM is a series of workshops and research that question the relationship between new technologies and ecological systems -studying how technology can relate to biological systems.

“This program starts from the viewpoint of an organism as an expression of it’s habitat and works within a longterm view of interacting populations surfing collectively on the geological and meteorological currents that carry them…

…At what level of subtlety and sympathy does a machine cease to be a machine in it’s classic sense? How can our technology relate to the subtleties and grace exhibited by biological organisms and the timeframes of natural cycles? To explore these questions Machine Wilderness explores experimental design methods that aim to include diverse ways of knowing.”

Is this squishy enough?

Part of the project is workshop based such as “Fieldrobotics”, in Cornwall last year. The workshop bought together a group of people from arts/science to design a robotic creature from the local environment. Memories and sensations of the participants are part of the design and engineering process. Participants in this session prototype creatures, and the facilitators also used this session to gain insights into creating a series of workshops in 2016.

This reminds me of a workshop I lead in making speakers last year at the start of the MA, conversations that participants had whilst making where strikingly poetic( prehistoric land monuments, resonant (E)earth, Symbolism and pattern) and I thought this was important at the time, but wasn’t sure why.