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A reaction on Mat's post: The Wanderer
I’m intrigued by the idea of creatures just wandering on their own. It is as if they are absent from the day-to-day business and only follow their instinct. Instead of seeing it as random movement, it seems like it is their own fate that brings them somewhere. It is the same feeling as when you are driving your car to, for example, work—a journey you take every day—which has now become fully automated. When you arrive at your destination, you suddenly snap out of this unconscious state and realize that you have been following your instinctual movement.
The idea makes me think of an installation I saw at Ars Electronica with the flying fish. It is interesting to see what it is that moves these creatures. For the sand installation, it is the wind; for the fish, it is spatial awareness; and for the buzzing bots, it is randomness.
When something is completely random, for me, it loses the magic of thinking that it is the actual intuition of the creature that drives its movement. That is why my idea will focus on a specific source of drive.
The Dancing Bots
This is an installation featuring small bots in a room, whose movements are driven by sound. Each bot has its own unique way of responding to the sound, but overall, the creatures are quite similar. The experience it aims to create is one of dancing without thinking—just as you don’t consciously decide where to go when you’re wandering. The bots around you show that you can move and behave freely, helping you ease into a state of unconscious dancing. By dancing along with the creatures you may learn how to come at ease in new settings. The piece could teach you how it is like to come in a state of unconsciousness by showing how it is done. Above all the creatures can give you a fun experience where you do not need to think about what you're doing.
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