Linguistic Underpinnings

If all goes as planned I’ll be spending the summer of 2008 working on a robotic/mobile sculpture called the Look-See Tree. I’m designing it to be a part of the 250th anniversary of the founding of Pittsburgh (which happens to be a robot-themed!??!?)

The Look-See* Tree is a mobile artwork housing 6 motion activated mini-theatres. The small theatres contain robotic animals in somewhat natural settings within a large tree structure.

From afar, viewers will see a large, sparsely limbed tree trunk lying on its side, supported by wheels, and connected to a bike. As they approach, viewers will notice the leaves of the tree, which sprout and are withdrawn repeatedly and irregularly implying an unusual fluctuation in seasons. Closer inspection, will reveal several glowing hollows in the tree trunk. As viewers approach and peak in, they will see fictional animals that will respond to their presence by either beginning or ending a gesture- hiding vocalizing, shifting, or jumping, and otherwise reacting to visitors. The setting which the animals inhabit will be littered with detritus and various signs of technology, in an attempt to create in miniature version of some of the strange innovations and reapportions that take place when nature meets urban space. For example- birds whose calls mimic cell phone rings and car alarms, and animals that collect scraps from city spaces that are then used as nesting material.

Viewers will also notice a unique feature of the Look-See Tree Big-Bot – which is that its power source is supplied on-site from a bicycle generator. The source of locomotion for the sculpture is also a point of interest- an electric bike. The Look-See Tree proposes technologies that are of low environmental impact. This approach means low-cost to no cost in sustaining a means of showing the sculpture, while showcasing species that seem to gracefully and disturbingly have found ways to adapt to settings irrevocably affected by human-related environmental augmentation.

*The term “look-see tree” is taken from a name given to trees that have been converted to fire watch or simply observation towers. This name was of interest to me because it designates a tree as a place to go for observation and contemplation- in this case, however, the view is inside the tree rather than beyond it.

Technical Support: Technical Support will be provided by Thiago Hersan. Thiago Hersan has a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and now works designing computer chips for a small company in Pittsburgh. He gained some experience working with electronics as part of his class work at CMU, including experience with simple vehicular robots.

A few insights into the overall form of the sculpture and a bit about the mini-theaters:

Look-See Tree/ Bike and Tree structure

This side view of the bike shows how the structure will be attached to the bike and fold in for easier transport. The tree structure will be mounted on a tandem bike attachment. A generator unit built from an open source design found at www.scienceshareware.com/bike_gen.htm

The bike will be moved from place to place and attended by the artist, Ally Reeves.

Close up of knothole

This view shows a design for a grouping of birds that tip forward to peck the ground, and sing in cell phone tones. All birds are deactivated by one motion sensor. When viewers approach they continue to move are “scared” into silence for 10sec.

Tree-Dwelling Highway Fox

Left alone, this robot raises it’s head and howls intermittently. When viewers approach it ducks down and “hides” for 2min. This robot is intended to get viewers to hold still and observe for a few minutes, replicating the way someone might encounter an animal in the wild. The form of the Fox is inspired by an extinct marsupial called a Tassie, and an abnormal fox that has been in the news lately, known as the “Tyco fox”. It’s howl sounds like a distant car horn(s).

The Nest Builder

Visitors are encouraged to place a small metal object (I am guessing people will use soda tabs and bottle caps and the like) in this bird’s mouth. The angle of the bird’s mouth and a small magnet will ensure that only metal objects are “collected”. A motion program will be activated by a sensor in the bird’s mouth and the bird will toss the metal object back into its nest. The nest is filled by a l mixed brood of baby birds that play a continual sound loop of “chirps” comprised of computer operation sound effects, i.e. trash sounds, start-up sounds, inbox sounds…

What are you Tyco fox? 

“There’s a strange, seemingly hairless creature hunting in the area around the Tyco Corporation’s woodsy headquarters outside Raleigh, North Carolina. It is so unusual that every time its spotted, the Tyco employees flock to windows to see it. Speculation on what the long-necked animal ranges from a doq with mange to a mythical Mexican chupacabra.

Photos of the animal were sent to experts at the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission who determed that the animal is most likely a red fox that has a rare genetic condition in which it lacks the outer layer of its coat. Such red foxes are called ‘Sampson foxes’. Unlike normal red foxes that are nocturnal hunters, Sampson foxes may be more active during the warmer hours of the day since their thin coat lacks the insulation power that might make nighttime hunting appealing.”

More info found in the National Geographic News:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0321_060321_tyco_fox.html

The Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), also known as the Tasmanian Wolf or Tassie, was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. Native to Australia and New Guinea , it is thought to have become extinct in the 20th century.

Intensive hunting encouraged by bounties is generally blamed for its extinction, but other contributory factors may have been disease, the introduction of dogs, and human encroachment into its habitat. Despite being officially classified as extinct, sightings are still reported.

The first detailed scientific description was made by Tasmania’s Deputy Surveyor-General, George Harris in 1808, five years after first settlement of the island. Harris originally placed the Thylacine in the genus Didelphis, which had been created by Linnaeus for the American opposums, describing it as Didelphis cynocephala, the “dog-headed opossum”.