Dual Pneuma, 2024
Interactive inflatable robotic sculpture, Tedlar fabric, pneumatics, computer control, terracotta, and turquoise; site-specific installation, dimensions variable; Courtesy of the artist. Commissioned by the Beall Center for Art + Technology’s Black Box Projects residency program, with major support from Creative Capital
Dual Pneuma is a soft-robotic performer evoking a humanoid body. Composed of inflatable, high-tensile fabric muscles, the artwork is capable of assuming a wide range of human, animal, and insect-like positions. The robot’s movement is directed by feedback loops between bend sensors in its joints and pressure sensors in its feet, which allow it to respond in real-time to the complexity of live scenarios. Alongside the robots is a series of ceramic works cast directly from the robotic figure. Compressed air is channeled through the ceramic sculptures to produce whistling sounds, which reference the water and wind-based huaco instruments of early Mesoamerican cultures.
→ Behind the Science
The Dual Pneuma project explores how living creatures maintain balance and evolve their movements. It builds on MacMurtrie’s earlier work with “soft machines,” which are inflatable robots designed to mimic natural movements. The project combines traditional programming and robotics with more user-friendly control systems. The project is additionally informed by MacMurtrie’s exploration of fluid creatures that merge across the US-Mexico border. Its hybrid form speaks to Gloria Anzaldúa’s understanding of the mestiza object, or spiritual crossbreed, speculating beyond binaristic border politics and criticizing larger systems of technology and power.
“The machine transitions between states of crawling and walking. When it seems to be falling over, it transitions into a different posture. It has this morphing ability to go from one thing to the next.” —Chico McMurtrie
Charcoal and watercolor on paper
Photo: Luise Kaunert
Courtesy of the artist
High tensile Tedlar fabric, pneumatic technology, electronics, software
Photo: Hector Bracho
Courtesy of the artist
Since the late 1980s, Chico MacMurtrie has explored the intersection of robotic sculpture, new media installation, and performance. His work investigates organic life from deep within, finding geometry in all living systems. MacMurtrie and his interdisciplinary collective, Amorphic Robot Works/ARW, have received numerous awards for their experimental new media artworks and have been presented in major museums and cultural institutions around the world.
Dual Pneuma was made possible with support from the UC Irvine Beall Center for Art + Technology, The Beall Family Foundation, Creative Capital, and Getty. Collaborators include Bill Bowen, Fabricio Cavero, Hugo de Souza Kolsky, the UC San Diego Bioinspired Robotics and Design Lab (Michael T. Tolley, PhD, and his students Shenglin Yan and Allyson Chen), and the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Integrated Design and Media (Professor Luke Dubois, and his student Checo Cadena).
