New Gallery QI Exhibit Bridges the U.S. Frontier through Robotic Sculptures
On Thursday, October 5 at 5 p.m., award-winning artist Chico MacMurtrie visits the UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute (QI) to open a new exhibit exploring culture, connection and identity at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Border Crossers” is an ongoing public art performance series by MacMurtrie/Amorphic Robot Works, with up to six inflatable robotic sculptures connecting over the Mexico-U.S. border wall. The exhibit opens with a screening of the “Border Crossers” film and a demo of one of the 30-foot-tall inflatable sculptures. The opening presentation will also feature a series of videos, drawings and an additional live demo from MacMurtrie’s most recent soft-robotic sculpture, “Dual Pneuma.”
Both projects represent MacMurtrie’s investigation of political issues through machine-led, artistic interventions at or along the border.
“While images of fear and division continue to misrepresent border communities, I am focused on staging the ‘Border Crossers’ project as a platform to bring people together across borders, highlighting the multilingual border community and its overlooked cultural vitality,” said MacMurtrie.
In “Border Crossers,” inflatable robotic sculptures forge a connection across the U.S.-Mexico border by unfurling over the boundary in lifelike movements. MacMurtrie is currently working toward a live performance at the border in the context of the World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana 2024.
“Dual Pneuma” is a soft-robotic performer evoking a humanoid body with four limbs that allow it to shapeshift between a bipedal and quadrupedal form. “Dual Pneuma” explores the notion of fluid border identity through dynamic robotic sculptures that expand and fold to create mirrored forms of themselves. Two prototypes are currently in technical development in conjunction with Bill Bowen of Amorphic Robot Works, and Associate Professor Mike T. Tolley and graduate students Shenglin Yang and Allyson Chen of the Bioinspired Robotics and Design Lab and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
“Dual Pneuma” is produced by the UC Irvine Beall Center for Art + Technology and will be exhibited in “Future Tense: Art, Complexity and Predictability” at the Beall Center as part of Getty’s “PST ART: Art & Science Collide” event from August 24, 2024 to December 14, 2024.
“Border Crossers” opens Thursday, October 5 at 5 p.m. with the Gallery QI in Atkinson Hall with a presentation and discussion with MacMurtrie. The exhibit will be on display in the Gallery QI Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. through Friday, December 8, 2023.
All Gallery QI events are free and open to the public. RSVPs to opening night are requested to galleryqi@ucsd.edu. A livestream will be available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeRbptqcPH4.
Gallery QI is an initiative of UC San Diego’s Qualcomm Institute, which harnesses technology to jumpstart innovation in areas including culture, energy, the environment and health. The gallery is located on the first floor of Atkinson Hall, on the UC San Diego campus at the corner of Voigt Drive and Equality Lane.