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Heidi Kumao talks about "Misbehaving: Media Machines Act Out"

Human+ The future of our species

What is expected of robots? How do they enact or defy expectations? Can a robot be polite or misbehave?

This project features two robotic, female performers who represent women and girls who disobey or resist expectations. Each intimate installation focuses on translating “unseen” information (data from proximity sensors, sound data) into tangible activity such as erratic movement or “incorrect” behavior. Unlike machines designed for perfect job performance, these machines declare their fallibility, impatience, approval, and disapproval through small gestural acts. In contrast to the precise technique and tireless efforts of a robot that plays chess or constructs automobiles, these robotic performers “act out” and misbehave. In these tableaus of protest and transformation, the machine is spirited, emotional, thoughtful, yet irregular.

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11 December 2015