This talk illustrates the development of several types of robotic animal and insect ‘agents,’ from animal drones and ‘spys’ to artistic robotic/cyborgean animal installations. The aim is to begin to discern cases in which a possible animal ‘agency’ might provoke a rethinking of the human-technological-nonhuman-animal relationship and to think about how theatre and performance can be a staging ground for expanded inter-relationships between these elements. Building on her work around cyborgs and nonhuman ‘others’, Professor Parker-Starbuck turns to forms of animal to examine how the human and the nonhuman relate, interact, and increasingly rely upon each other. Working through three different layers of animal mechanization—mimetic appropriation in automata and robotic forms; biomimetic participation in learning processes; and collaborative co-design in artistic practices—this talk examines these species-crossings to consider how sites from art and performance to science and medical—can be generative for bringing the nonhuman, technological, animal, into a more collective ‘association’ that offers room for nonhuman animal agency.
This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Theatre
About the speaker:
Jennifer Parker-Starbuck | website
Department of Drama, Theatre & Dance, University of London
