Artist Statement

Autonomous Robotic Agent (2013-2014)

Far from the utopias of smart, anthropomorphic and responsive machines, and inspired by the Maya’s creationist mythology, TZ’IJK is a blind, deaf, and speechless autonomous robotic agent made from mud. Drawn from the lessons of mestizaje, and motivated by Latin America’s anthropophagic, cannibalistic, and hybrid nature, TZ’IJK proposes an alternative and disruptive approach to the development of embodied artificial life forms and advocates for the integration of high and low technological materials, processes, and cultures. Consisting of a large mud-covered sphere with an internal robotic mechanism, TZ’IJK establishes a non-reactive and unpredictable bodily interaction with the viewers. This creates the emergence of a new kind of synthetic agent that allows contradictions and ambiguity, complicating the traditional dichotomies of craft/technology, western/indigenous, modern/ traditional, global/ local, and developed/undeveloped.

• Argentine architect Gustavo Crembil’s practice draws from design, architecture, performance art, and political activism. A former Fulbright scholar, his work has been supported by PS1/Museum of Modern Art (NYC), Telefonica Foundation, Unesco-Aschberg, ACADIA, Argentina’s National Arts Fund and Antorchas Foundation. He is currently Assistant Professor at Rensselaer’s School of Architecture. arch.rpi.edu/2011/10/crembil-gustavo
• Paula Gaetano Adi is an Argentine artist and researcher working in sculpture, performance, and robotic agents. Exhibiting internationally worldwide, she was granted honors including First Prize VIDA 9.0, the “LIMBØ” award, the Argentina’s National Endowment, among others. She is currently Assistant Professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. paulagaetanoadi.com

Text with images (PDF) p. 22-23