Moton Actuator
OPENING 6 JUL, 18:00
Performance 19:00
“Moton Actuator Tour” feels like an unstoppable slip of the tongue: motor, motion, actuation, action, automation... First thought: a vibrating motor making words tremble to the point of contagion. Second thought: an unsteady set of instructions produces order. Nicola Arthen, Alondra Castellanos
Arreola and Ivo Rick's exhibition at Lovaas plays, like the title, with subtle and designed lapses, in this case, of technology. This is not about error but technological cognition incorporated into human life and body: from future urban landscapes to the fusion between body and artificial materials, or
the industrial production of objecthood.
The exhibiting artists explore current technological strategies of visualization, – such as those of 3D body scan –, and sensing technologies, – like the ones used by self-driving cars –, and render possible new translations between machine-made objects and the human body or the architecture. The references to visuality and tactility, disclose questions regarding technology's capacity to get to know the world. For example, viscoelasticity turns into technological production of what Marcel Duchamp called infrathin, referring to that which is almost impossible to perceive. The present sculptures, performance, and prints suggest numerous technological infrathins. Softness becomes 3D printing's highest feature of form-making. Or waterjet cutters insert traces of dust into object's shapes. The non-linear translations brought about by the artworks, tap into the depths of how algorithmic patterns appear in the logic of object production and design, artificial and human motion, or the shape of virtual accidents.
Written by Helena Grande
Helena Grande is an independent curator and writer, currently working on her Ph.D. thesis. She studied an MA in Contemporary Art History and Cultural Studies at Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain. Her work and research focus on digital culture, philosophy of technology and the use of fantasy in contemporary video and performance.