Otherness

When I was a child I identified myself with Mowgli

That thought inspired me to start working on a realistic sculpture of a child walking on all four. I had since a long time kept a photocopy of Muybridges paralytic child on the wall in my studio.

http://deadnancy.com/muybridge/index.html

While thinking about the sculpture I remembered a painting I loved as a child:

from Francis Bacon ( I actually did not like his paintings at all during my childhood…but this was an exception)

http://linsscienceblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/uner-tan-syndrome-case-identified-from.html 

By France Cadet

I have been experimenting in water colour, animating psychological themes with joyful colours. At first glance this painting appears organic and almost traditional. Then you see it is an iteration of a neon digital photo of my child. And that the tones mirror some colours in my online profile picture. Which is itself a digital rendering of old analogue photographic film and lens. Worlds within worlds. Robot vision folds back into itself and inhabits my eye. I think my robots are hiding inside the painting.

Thank you for all the comments received during the summer when I was on holiday.

In my art, and in my life, I am concerned with the relations between humans and machines, and how technology can change our relations with others, and with ourselves – one aspect of this is how today we can be close with someone, even intimate, when they are far away.

The Japanese have a rich tradition of innovation in this area, so it is not surprising they should invent a device that can simulate a kiss over the internet. Read more here.

A precursor for this in the art world is Mobile Feelings (2002-03) and Mobile Feelings II (2004) by Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau. Perhaps it is no coincidence that they developed these works while at IAMAS lnstitute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences in Gifu, Japan.

About the Japanese device:

”The device looks like an ordinary box attached to a computer with a rotating straw. A closer look reveals otherwise. Students at Japan’s Kajimoto Laboratory at the University of Electro-Communications have created a small device that uses motor rotations with the aim to simulate the feeling of a kiss over the Internet.”

”Upon closer inspection, we learn that the kissing device responds directly to a person’s tongue. On one end, a person rotates the ”straw” in one direction and the ”straw” on the other end will rotate in the same direction. The result is a powerful tactile response that feels like you’re giving or receiving a kiss. From the demonstration video, the device looks a lot more effective than that concept cellphone that uses a wet sponge to transmit moisture onto a person’s lips.”