UCI Beall Center for Art + Technology

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LEMUR (League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots) / Eric Singer, Jeff Feddersen, Milena Iossifova, Bil Bowen, Luke DuBois

January 14 - March 19, 2005
Opening reception: January 13, 6 - 9 p.m.

LEMUR is a Brooklyn-based group of artists and technologists developing robotic musical instruments. Founded in 2000, LEMUR's philosophy is to build robotic instruments that "play themselves." In LEMUR designs, the robots are the instruments. In a site-specific interactive installation, the LEMUR orchestra makes its California debut with Guitarbot, TibetBot, ForestBot, and !rBot (pronounced "chick-r-bot"), and Modbots. Over 20 bots will be installed representing the largest LEMUR exhibition to date. Opening reception features a live performance by the LEMUR Orchestra and their creators Eric Singer, Jeff Feddersen, Milena Iossifova, Bil Bowen and Luke DuBois.

A part of the Eclectic Orange Festival 2005.

In a site-specific interactive installation, the LEMUR orchestra makes its California debut. Over 20 bots will be installed representing the largest LEMUR exhibition to date. The opening reception featured a live performance by the LEMUR Orchestra and their creators Eric Singer, Jeff Feddersen, Milena Iossifova, Bil Bowen and Luke DuBois.

LEMUR's growing ensemble consists of a wide variety of musical robots. ForestBot displays a forest of 25 egg rattles sprouting from 10-foot rods that quiver and sway over onlookers. Rather than a single robot, it is a magnificently beautiful robotic installation. ModBots are miniature modular percussion robots in a variety of styles and functions, including singing bell bots and percussion "beater" bots. GuitarBot, an electric stringed instrument, is comprised of four independently controllable stringed units which can pick and slide extremely rapidly. It is designed to extend not simply duplicate the capabilities of a human guitarist.

LEMUR is Eric Singer, Jeff Feddersen, Milena Iossifova and Bil Bowen. More information about LEMUR members, including contributions and expertise, is available.

LEMUR is supported in part by generous grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the Greenwall Foundation, the Jerome Foundation and Arts International. LEMUR is also sponsored by Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center.

LEMUR wishes to thank and acknowledge generous assistance provided by Dave Liatti and Dan Krumm of Glide-Inc., the Beall Center for Art and Technology, Professors Chris Dobrian and Kei Akagi, and to Julia Nyberg for her Family Day planning and education outreach.

Visit LEMUR's website at www.lemurbots.org

LEMUR EVENTS

Jazzbot
Friday March 18

A performance of jazz piano and robotic musical instruments Featuring Kei Akagi, piano

Jazz pianist Kei Akagi of the UCI Music Department will give a brief performance in live interaction with a collection of robotic musical instruments. The robotic instruments, designed by LEMUR (the League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots),are currently installed as an exhibition in the Beall Center for Art and Technology. Mr. Akagi will provide a demonstration of realtime musical interaction between man and machines, using music composed by, and musically intelligent robotic behavior programmed by, UCI professor Christopher Dobrian.

The 20-minute performance was followed by a question-and-answer session with professors Akagi and Dobrian and LEMUR founder Eric Singer.

Kei Akagi is professor of Jazz Composition and Performance in the UCI Music Department. Christopher Dobrian is professor of Composition and Technology, and director of the Gassmann Electronic Music Studio and the Realtime Audio Research Laboratory. The LEMUR exhibition is ongoing at the Beall Center through March 19, 2005.

Mr. Akagi will perform on a Yamaha Disklavier grand piano, with generous support from the Yamaha Corporation of America, the Gassmann Electronic Music Studio of UCI, and the Beall Center for Art and Technology.

Family Day
Saturday March 19

Find your Funk: Stephen Hodges
Toss the traditional methods of making music in the trash as you gather your groove and find scrap to create sound.

LEMUR Rewind. Pause. Play.: Eric Singer
Meet the artist who constructed the first LEMUR bot as he discusses his inspiration and influence as a child.

The Emergence of the Electronic: Mike Boyle
Explore the history of the eclectic electronic and its force in disc jockey culture.

The Real World of Robots: David Reinkensmeyer
From the assembly line to Aibo, a historical perspective of robots and their presence in the real world.

Piano Playtime
Conduct and interact with the LEMUR bots through a traditional musical instrument, the piano.

The Mechanized, Motorized, and Mechanical: Del Hanson
Gather your gadgets and receive a demonstration on basic robotic technology.