Embodiment + two examples

Embodiment is the assigning of the human consciousness/mind (a “soul”, in Descartes’ view) to, in context of this class, technology (a “body”). This includes capabilities of human perception: sense of place, identity, knowing where your limbs/organs are (proprioception), etc. Embodiment also extends to reflecting human emotion: in the “Kismet” example, people saw their emotions in a robot that was simply programmed to move its “facial features” in certain ways.

Two examples of embodiment presented in class that I thought were really introspective were Tim Hawkinson’s “Emoter” and Rebecca Horn’s “Measure Box”. In Hawkinson’s project, the “Emoter” piece is similar to the” Kismet” project. Mechanical parts move Photoshopped images of his facial features in accordance to luminosity of a TV screen. Thus, the effect is some bizarre and improbable human “emotion” that the viewer could easily identify with. The second piece, Horn’s “Measure Box”, gave an insight into just how much volume the human body takes up in the world, something many people would not think about. Long prongs set up around a rectangular frame would just slightly touch the human body, leaving a negative space imprint of the person’s form.