Embedded Files
Mechahydrozoa Umbrellianus
Mechahydrozoa Umbrellianus
Creating an immersive experience to explore inclusion and exclusion between robots and humans.
Two electronic sea divers stumble across new and mysterious jellyfish robots, the Mechahydrozoa Umbrellianus. The divers are curious about them, but when they touch them, they begin to transform into mechahydrozoa themselves!
I led CHARISMA Lab's first collaboration with the OSU Music Department, where I brought my practice together with two dancers, Prof. Dana Reason of the OSU Music Department, and an improvisational music group. Leaning on my dance experience, we developed choreographic methods to integrate three robot jellyfish, two dancers, and music created by Prof. Reason’s improv group into a cohesive, mutually interactive performance. With the dancers and musicians taking cues from each other and the robots, our audience became fully immersed in a visual and sonic environment of a strange, ever-shifting underwater robotic land.
Created and premiered at SinguHilarity in April 2019 at the Majestic Theater. More information on this project from a research perspective can be seen here: Mechahydrozoa Umbrellianus.
Four Spheros in Quarantine
Four Spheros in Quarantine
How can we have a sense of community and togetherness while we are separate?
How can we foster a sense of shared experience between humans and technology?
When COVID hit, many artists began making videos of their craft in their homes. However, something was missing, especially for those who normally perform and create in groups and ensembles. Many performers collaborated by creating individual videos of ensemble work and editing all the pieces together, creating collaborative work from their separate homes.
Robots didn't have this same need for separation that humans did. Since they can't carry COVID, robots could be together in a space and still perform as an ensemble. However, would this resonate in the same way with a human audience who is stuck in quarantine? Or would it be more effective to also quarantine the robots, creating a shared experience with human performing artists?
Created and premiered at Soundbox 4 at Oregon State University, inspired by the Four Swans quartet in Marius Petipa's Swan Lake.
Baba Yaga's Bot
Baba Yaga's Bot
How can we tell stories of our culture and heritage with technology?
How do these ancient stories change when told with modern mediums?
This project was a collaboration with a fine arts student, two dancers, and a music education student. We looked to reimagine the story of Baba Yaga through modern technology, using Mussorgsky's Hut on Fowl's Legs and the folktales of Baba Yaga as inspiration. I created a robot version of Baba Yaga's hut, which was decorated by a fine arts student for a final project. We then brought Baba Yaga's Bot to two dancers, to create a performance depicting an encounter between Prince Ivan and Baba Yaga, all set to music written by the music composition student. The music was inspired by Mussorgsky's Hut on Fowl's Legs, but done entirely electronically.
This work premiered at Soundbox 3 at Oregon State University. My collaborators were Jennifer McCloskey (fine arts student and dancer), Kamron Kayhani (dancer), and Eugen Hubbs (music education student).
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Robot
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Robot
Look! Low degree of freedom robots can tell a story with motion (and lights and costumes and sound....)
My first year at OSU, my friend and I had a dream to turn the Pioneer robots into reindeers and have them drive a sleigh to bring treats to people in the robotics building. However, COVID hit and this was no longer feasible. Instead, we decided to tell the story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Robot with various robots from our lab. I choreographed our short performance piece and together we created costumes and a set to create our performance.
Page updated
Report abuse