Proposal Scope¶

This project proposal is the first design document and should capture both the project group consensus and a general plan of execution. It is not a contract; it is expected that details will change. But it must represent a feasible idea for producing a successful piece to show. It should raise all high-level questions which the project might answer, even though more will be uncovered.

As with the pitch, please keep the idea within the general theme of the course: using the dynamic interaction of a machine and an environment as a performance medium to create meaning.

A successful proposal needs to go beyond the application of technique; it needs to use the materials of robotics which we have been exploring as a means of creating meaning, not as an end in itself. The objective of the class is to create robots which are art, not to simply put robots in art or make art about robots.

Building a machine is a complex process with a lot of interrelated decisions; it is difficult to simply sketch or improvise a machine. So planning and forethought is an essential discipline.

Prompts¶

One cannot become a fully-fledged roboticist within one course, nor can one bootstrap an artistic practice. So in the same spirit of immersion, the following prompts are intended to help stimulate conceptual thinking for those for whom this process is unfamiliar.

What is the underlying idea or feeling you wish to convey to the viewer? What are your own experiences or memories surrounding the idea? What questions does it raise for you? Was it associated with a physical situation or enactment?

How would a human dancer express the idea non-verbally? What sort of movements would a person use, what sort of props, solo or in partnership? How would a human actor improvise a non-verbal scene around the idea?

Any machine we build is simultaneously an agent and a portrayal; it is a physical thing with an agenda implied by its behavior, but it can also represent a larger idea. What is a form which embodies your idea? What is a process which fully inhabits your idea? What is a form which represents it? Can these be merged? Are these in tension?

Any machine we build is simultaneously an application of technology and a commentary on technology; the medium is part of the message. Which do you emphasize? Are the elements in tension?