patriarchalExtraction::thebody_holds_thedamage
A latex-clad ensemble of rocks, microchips, force sensor resistors and LEDs beg tactile engagement via projected text. Upon audience engagement - stroking, pushing, touching - the worded output shifts dimensions of emotive relation to touch (pleasure, pain).
This sculptural installation sketch is the result of a one month research project at AADK residency in Blanca, Spain (2023). Through coded behavioral responses this work explores patriarchal relations of extraction in our relationship with technological objects and interfaces. Linking techno-animism, and feminist theory, it questions how our usage and control over technological artifacts may perpetuate behaviors of harm, and what that feels like inside the mind of the robot. Using DIY arduino electronics, hand-written code and latex, the work also touches upon ideas in multi-modality in soft robotics. The code structure draws from somatosensory neuroscience, such as long-term potentiation and gate control theory of pain, to guide the response. Hence, transposing the biological mechanisms of trauma response encoded in the body, the work understands patriarchal extraction as a felt experience within a robotic system.
Supported by City Rural Award 2019.
