Tesanovic, Andrea "Soft Robots and Artificial Corporealities: Rendering Machines Supple." Master's
, Aalborg University, 2023
Keywords/Fields of Study : soft robots, media art and performance, bio-inspired design, human-nonhuman interface, artificial corporeality
Abstract: The study addresses the under-explored field of soft robotics in media art and performance. Inspired by the biological structures (morphologies of animals, plants, or natural occurrences such as sweating or breathing), soft robots are nonanthropomorphic systems capable of autonomous behaviour, primarily composed of synthetic materials with elastic moduli in the range of soft biological materials (Rus & Tolley, 2015). The research unpacks the paradigm of soft robotics by tracing their genealogy in contemporary and media art histories. Since most research on soft robotics emerges from engineering and science studies, the impetus of this thesis is to bridge the gap in the scholarship of soft robotic media art and generate knowledge from the angle of media art theory, simultaneously situating the field within the framework of posthuman theory, e.g. Donna Haraway's 'cyborg theory', Rosi Braidotti’s 'becoming–machine' or Karen Barad’s 'intra-action'. Hybrids emerge in the corporealities of soft robots, assembling a human-non-human interface at the intersection of multiple diffracted ontologies. Semi-structured interviews and analytical interpretation of case studies (soft robotic media art performances) support the discussion. Information from the research provoked the formation of the concept of artificial corporeality, elucidating the role of the body in machine aesthetics.
Department: Department of Communication and Psychology
, Aalborg University
Advisor(s): Elizabeth Jochum
