Konjska moč: poetika gibanja je intermedijska situacija za premišljevanje tehnološkega napredka v posthumanističnem kontekstu.
Konj v instalaciji je hibridni robot (hibrot) z lastno zaznavno in gibalno inteligenco, ki jo poganja bioreaktor. Za razliko od kiborgov, pri katerih je organizem opremljen z elektronskimi podaljški, je hibrot organizem, ki enakovredno vključuje elektronske in biološke elemente. Hibrot ni niti živ niti mrtev, nahaja se v vmesnem prostoru, v katerem ne štejeta niti življenje niti smrt, temveč kategorije, ki so izven človeškega dometa.
Bioreaktor poganjajo kemični procesi v trohnečem mesu, ki povzročajo spremembe v impedanci ali v razmerju med izmenično napetostjo in tokom v električnem krogotoku. Hibrot je tehnični, znanstveni in kulturni problem, ki se ukvarja s tremi nivoji eksperimentalne znanosti. Prvi problem je vzpostavitev stabilne komore, ki bi s pomočjo kemičnih reakcij poleg električne napetosti (volti) proizvajala zadostno električno silo (amperi), da bi konja spravila v gibanje. Drugi problem je mehanski ali konstrukcijski, saj morajo biti materiali skrajno lahki, da obstaja upanje, da se bo z majhno električno silo ali potenco, ki jo proizvaja bioreaktor, konj dejansko premaknil. Tretji problem je razvoj hibrota v smeri samostojnega, samozadostnega gibljivega-ganljivega objekta, ki ni samo premičen, temveč se odziva tudi na zunanje okolje z ultrasoničnimi in infrardečimi tipali. Bioreaktor v instalaciji vključuje mrtvo, razpadajoče meso, ki ni obravnavano s pozicije strahu, temveč z vidika potencialnosti. Strah, ki ga človek čuti ob soočenju z nepredvidljivo naravo in neizbežnostjo smrti, je v instalaciji uporabljen kot sposobnost za novo življenje, v novem časovnem in logičnem sosledju.
Pojem konjska moč se ne nanaša zgolj na moči motorjev z notranjim izgorevanjem v avtomobilizmu, hkrati se na pojem vežejo številni drugi kulturni pomeni, kajti konj je v človeških civilizacijah postal bodisi simbol vojaške in patriarhalne moči (kipi konjenikov) bodisi kulturalizirane narave z udomačitvijo »divjih živali« in nadzorom nad naravnimi silami (jamske poslikave). Obe perspektivi temeljita na strogo hierarhičnih in antropocentričnih razmerjih, pri čemer je konj zgolj predmet nadzora.
Konjska moč: poetika gibanja je prostor upanja, ne prostor zahtev in pogojnih stavkov. V projektu umetniki, znanstveniki in tehnologi težijo k pristopom tako imenovane »mehke moči«, ki z vidika tehnološkega napredka spodbuja metode sodelovanje in neprisilnega delovanja. Sprašujejo se, če je možno spraviti mehanizem v gibanje brez prisile. Z eksperimetalnimi praksami poskušajo realizirati mehanizacijo in tehnologijo, ki ne temelji na kulturi podrejanja, temveč poslušanja narave. Raziskujejo, kako razmišljati o pogonski moči, ki ne bi ustrezala človeškim pričakovanjem, temveč bi sledila potencialnosti bioloških organizmov. Cilj eksperimentov je tehnološki napredek, vendar tehnološki napredek, ki sledi zakonitostim obstoječih organizmov.
V suspenzu, ki ga ustvari pričakovanje (anti)potencialnosti v vprašanju ali se bo konj premaknil ali ne, leži tudi poetika neuporabnosti. Konj, ki že od začetka človeške civilizacije služi kot gibalno orodje za človeka, postane samostojno bitje, ki je uporabno samo sebi.
Ida Hiršenfelder
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Horse power: The Poetics of Movement is an intermedia situation established so that one can reflect on technological progress in the post-humanistic context.
The horse in the installation is a hybrid robot (hybrot) with perception and movement intelligence that is powered by a bioreactor. In opposition to cyborgs (organisms equipped with electronic extensions) the hybrot is an organism created from equal shares of electronic and biological elements. The hybrot is neither alive nor dead, it lies somewhere in between, somewhere where neither life nor death count, in a space governed by categories that are beyond human range.
The bioreactor is fuelled by the chemical processes in the rotting meat which cause the changes in the impedance or in the ratio between the alternating current and the current in the electric circle. The hybrot is a technical, scientific and cultural problem that addresses experimental science on three levels. The first problem deals with establishing a stabile chamber, which would, through chemical reactions, produce not merely electrical current (volts) but also a sufficient flow rate (amperes) to put the horse in motion. The second problem is of a mechanical or construction nature, for the materials need to be extremely light if we wish to have the slightest chance of moving the horse with the small electric current that is produced by the bioreactor. The third problem is how to develop the hybrot in the direction of an independent, self-sufficient moving-touching object, which does not merely move, but also responds to its environment with ultrasonic and infrared sensors. The bioreactor in the installation includes decaying meat, which is not viewed from the position of fear, but from the position of its potential. In this installation the fear that a person feels when confronting unpredictable nature and inevitable death, is used as a capacity for new life, in a new temporal and logical succession.
The term horse power is not applicable merely to the power of the internal combustion engines used in motor vehicles, for it is also linked to numerous other cultural meanings, as the horse has been, since the beginning of civilisation, either a symbol of military and patriarchal power (sculptures of horsemen) or a symbol of cultivated nature with the domestication of “wild animals” and control over natural forces (cave paintings). Both perspectives are based on strictly hierarchical and anthropocentric relations in which the horse is merely a subject of control.
Horse power: The Poetics of Movement is a space of hope, not a space of demands and conditional sentences. In this project artists, scientists and technology experts strive towards the so-called “soft power” approaches which encourage cooperation and unforced operation that will drive technological progress forward. They wonder whether it is possible to set a mechanism into motion without coercion. Through experimental practices they try to realize the mechanisation and technology, which would not be based on the subordination of nature, but on listening to it. They research and consider driving power, which would not necessarily comply with human expectations, but would follow the potential of biological organisms. Technological progress is the goal of their experiments, however this progress should follow the laws of existing organisms.
The suspense created by the expectation of the (anti)potentiality as to whether the horse will move or not, also includes the poetics of uselessness. A horse that has served as a tool for moving mankind since the beginning of civilization, has now became an independent being that is useful only to itself.
Ida Hiršenfelder
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Kdaj, kje: 16. december 2016 – 13. januar 2017, Galerija Kapelica, Kersnikova 4, Ljubljana
Zasnova in razvoj konstrukcije: Zoran Srdić Janežič
Zasnova in programiranje: Otto Urpelainen
Programiranje: Martin Podlogar
Pomoč pri razvoju bioreaktorjev: Sara Zupanc, Benjamin Drakslar
Svetovanje pri bioreaktorjih: Kristian Tkalec
Pomoč pri izdelavi robota: Polona Černe, Žiga Lebar, Janez
Besedilo: Ida Hiršenfelder
3D vizualizacija in renderiranje: Urša Vidic
Prevod: Sunčan Stone
Kovinska konstrukcija: Uroš Mehle
Izdelava steklenih posod: Zvonko Drobnič
Produkcija: Zavod Gulag
Koprodukcija: Galerija Kapelica, Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana, Layerjeva hiša (Zavod Carnica)
Podpora: Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Mestna občina Ljubljana – Oddelek za kulturo
Zahvala: MARU d.o.o.
