Inflatable Bodies: Chico MacMurtrie

During the past twenty years MacMurtrie’s kinetic, monumental sculptural installations have evolved from different representations of the human body and various forms of nature into his current, more abstract works such as Inner Space, which is having its United States premiere in this exhibition. In his sculpture, MacMurtrie utilizes various technologies to create the illusion of a live object or living being: using computational mechanisms to achieve a very subtle level of control and movement. Expanding and contracting in various configurations, the sculptures developed for this exhibition are controlled by computational methods.  Using the principles of a skeletal-muscular system powered by compressed air, MacMurtrie’s objects oscillate, creating the illusion of living objects.  MacMurtrie’s work dynamically responds to the movements of its viewers to create a menagerie of moving forms.

Chico MacMurtrie acts as the Artistic Director of Amorphic Robot Works (ARW), a collective he founded in 1991, consisting of artists and engineers who help in the realization of his work. Since that time, his investigations have resulted in the creation of more than 250 mechanical sculptures that assume anthropomorphic and abstract forms.

Dates: 
February 03, 2011 to May 07, 2011
Curated By: 
David Familian
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