Sonic robotics: musical genres as platforms for understanding robotic performance as cultural events

Wade Marynowsky*, Julian Knowles, Oliver Bown, Sam Ferguson

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    Abstract

    This chapter examines how artist Wade Marynowsky’s recent robotic performance art projects are framed within musical genres: Opera, in Robot Opera (2015), Ambient/Glitch, in Synthesiser-Robot (2017); and Disco, in The Ghosts of Roller Disco (2020). By positioning the projects within known music genres, the research expands the canon of Cultural Robotics by providing platforms that allow wider communities to understand the presentation of robotic performance as cultural events within a historical context. Notions of robotic agency, dramaturgy, choreography, robotic musical gesture, and robotic musicianship are explored across three case studies, which are presented in the contexts of live performance festivals and durational exhibitions: (1) Robot Opera, a dramaturgically designed, interactive opera for eight, larger than life-sized robots; (2) Synthesiser-Robot, a solo autonomous robot performance for a repurposed industrial robot arm, theUR3, and a hardware-software interface, the Ableton Push; and (3) The Ghosts of Roller Disco, a choreographed performance for eight robotic roller skates. The research highlights the importance of robotic agency by applying autonomous and interactive movement, localised sound, and surround sound design in creating immersive and engaging robotic performance art experiences.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationCultural robotics
    Subtitle of host publicationsocial robots and their emergent cultural ecologies
    EditorsBelinda J. Dunstan, Jeffrey T. K. V. Koh, Deborah Turnbull Tillman, Scott Andrew Brown
    Place of PublicationCham, Switzerland
    PublisherSpringer, Springer Nature
    Chapter14
    Pages219-235
    Number of pages17
    ISBN (Electronic)9783031281389
    ISBN (Print)9783031281372
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2023

    Publication series

    NameSpringer Series on Cultural Computing
    PublisherSpringer
    ISSN (Print)2195-9056
    ISSN (Electronic)2195-9064

    Keywords

    • musical robotics
    • performance
    • electronic music
    • experimental art
    • media art

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    • Robot opera: A Gesamtkunstwerk for the 21st century

      Marynowsky, W., Knowles, J. & Frost, A., 2016, Cultural Robotics. Koh, J. T. K. V., Dunstan, B. J., Silvera-Tawil, D. & Velonaki, M. (eds.). Switzerland : Springer, Springer Nature, Vol. 9549. p. 143-158 16 p. (Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence; vol. 9549).

      Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

      5 Citations (Scopus)

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