Forced mechanics it's a piece by Oihane Iragüen and Jonathan García Lana selected in the 2020 Summer Sessions call.
"Every body is a machine..."
René Descartes
Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences. 1637
What is a living being? This has been a constant debate between science and philosophy: Technologies such as artificial intelligence, the expanded body, and machine learning invite us to reconsider the theme, and introduce cybernetic variables such as the distributed mind, biomimetics, social networks, and telecommunications that help us rethink the concept of life through nature’s mechanics and organisation.
Mecánicas Forzadas (‘Forced Mechanics’) is the result of Tabakalera’s first-time participation in the Summer Sessions residency programme, which is a series of international art and technology residencies sponsored by Rotterdam’s V2_Lab for the Unstable Media together with a global network of cultural organisations including the Art Center Nabi in Seoul, Hangar in Barcelona, iMAL in Brussels, and the Points Center for Contemporary Art in Shanghai.
The piece is the result of a hybridisation of two disciplines; a video installation proposed by visual artist Oihane Iraguen, and robotic music incarnated by creator and experimental luthier Jonathan García Lana ‘Tunipanea’.