Title: Living Machines

Brief Description: Giving machines lives of their own.

Description:

I am interested in increasing the evolutionary level of machines in the Arts and by extension the world at large. By this I don't mean strictly Artificial Intelligence, but rather providing them with little bits of control over their own existence such that they are not entirely our slaves.

Two examples:

Chorus Line (http://www.etantdonnes.com/KINETIC/chorus.html) --
A kinetic sculpture driven by eight integrate-and-fire "neurons" which are coupled to their nearest neighbors. The behavior of the entire system is subject to this coupling such that any disturbance will be "evened-out" and the pattern of firing will return to its original sequence. Exactly how this happens is governed by the inter-connections, not by a pre-programmed intelligence.

RoboCar Collective (http://www.etantdonnes.com/ROBOCAR/Collective/index.html) --
A small group of autonomous cars who develop a dance step for themselves by randomly selecting a sequence of motions and passing them on to different partners. This is in contrast to most (all?) examples of "Robots Learning to Dance" where the robots have been trained to do some specific activity which they do not vary.

Over the years I have collaborated with numerous other artists, engineers, and scientists and like to believe that I can understand their concerns. As an engineer I bring skills in mechanical, electronic, and software R&D; and, as an artist, I have the ability to integrate and See the Big Picture which is often missing in heads-down research.

My resume: http://www.etantdonnes.com/TEXT/resume.pdf
CV: http://www.etantdonnes.com/TEXT/BioartSchip.pdf
Catalog: http://www.etantdonnes.com/monkinetic.html
and Polemic: http://www.etantdonnes.com/Bricoleur/un_Bricoleur.html

Budget:

My usual engineering consulting fee is $100/hour plus materials and other expenses. I understand that artists are not so valuable, so I will forgo the personal fee and just ask to be reimbursed for any expenses incurred. Since I live in Santa Fe, travel and lodging are probably not an issue. And since I would love to find sources of art supplies in New Mexico, materials cost might also be minimized.

--Optional Elements--

The results of this submission may [apparently not] be viewed at: http://socialmedia.hpc.unm.edu/isea2012/?q=node/5/submission/49