Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Robots: Asleep, Awake, Alone, and in Love

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
New Media Dramaturgy

Part of the book series: New Dramaturgies ((ND))

Abstract

In Chapter 5 we look at the use of robots in recent theatre and argue that, in some cases, robots are ideal vehicles for performance based on new media dramaturgy as they can translate between the informatic and the organic, facilitating meaningful transactions between human visitors and autonomous or semi-autonomous machine. But they also raise significant questions about aesthetic representation and audience response. The chapter considers recent work in creative robotics, which gestures towards something beyond the robotics of industrial design and performance based on efficiency (speed and productivity) and beyond the comparatively simple question of the representation of robotics in the world. This involves a rediscovery of the larger representational function of robotics in imaging the enhanced qualities of human experience rather than simply its visual manifestations. We argue, through analyses of robot and android theatre works by Hirata Oriza and Ishiguro Hiroshi, Mari Velonaki, and Kris Verdonck, that the experience and meaning generated by this work is a result of the entire system’s design and dramaturgy and that it is dramaturgically constituted as a result of the interactions between entities rather than as a feature of one or more of the constituent entities. Recent work that explores what Braidotti calls ‘a displacement of the lines of demarcation … between the organic and the inorganic’ (The Posthuman, Polity Press, Cambridge: 2013, 89) is also discussed in reference to theorising a political perspective on NMD and robotics. In short, we demonstrate that we do not need identifiably human actors as guarantors of meaning and intimacy either in robotics or in performance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Aspects of this chapter are drawn from and extend our three linked essays on new media dramaturgy in TDR: The Drama Review, June 2015. Full citations can be found under Eckersall (2015), Grehan (2015) and Scheer (2015).

  2. 2.

    The robots were sculpted in clay, and built by Paul Catling.

  3. 3.

    A significant influence on the development of robotics in Japan is Mori Masahiro’s uncanny valley theory (bukimi no tani), first proposed in 1970. Mori’s thesis states that a fully lifelike robot would cause discomfort in humans and that retaining some aspect of the non-human as a visible reminder creates a greater sense of ease in its interactions with the living (Mori 1970). Something like a prosthesis that is lifelike in look but not in feel or temperature would generate feelings of uncanniness and distance. His famous uncanny valley graph puts a human response to a prosthetic hand at the same level of disturbance as a zombie and a corpse, whereas the Bunraku puppet is located much nearer to a healthy person on a scale of familiarity. Actroids, though lousy actors, are designed around strong human likeness as if in disregard of Mori’s thesis.

  4. 4.

    We attended a performance of this work at the Festival a/d Werf, Utrecht, in July 2011.

  5. 5.

    For footage of the Tiller Girls see Filonov (2011). Of note here is the series of complex movements carried out at about 2.15.

  6. 6.

    To borrow a further reference from Blade Runner, reaction time is a factor in the fictional ‘Voight-Kampff’ test that decides who is human and who is not. As the film suggests, the ultimate determination of this state of desiring humanlikeness is measurement and this is an imperfect mechanism that is unable to account for processes of cognition, sensation and cultural complexity.

Bibliography

  • Artspace. 2013. ‘Artspace Visual Arts Centre: The Woman and the Snowman.’ 19th International Symposium on Electronic Art Website. http://www.isea2013.org/events/artspace-visual-arts-centre/. Accessed 29 March 2016.

  • Auslander, Philip. 2006. ‘Humanoid Boogie: Reflections on Robotic Performance.’ In Staging Philosophy: Intersections of Theatre, Performance, and Philosophy, edited by David Krasner, 87–103. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, Jane. 2010. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braidotti, Rosi. 2013. The Posthuman. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demers, Louis-Philippe. 2010. Machine Performers: Agents in a Multiple Ontological State. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Plymouth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckersall, Peter. 2006. ‘Towards an Expanded Dramaturgical Practice: A Report on “The Dramaturgy and Cultural Intervention Project”.’ Theatre Research International 31(3): 283–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eckersall, Peter. 2015. ‘Towards a Dramaturgy of Robots and Object-Figures.’ TDR: The Drama Review 59(3): 123–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feltham, Oliver. 2013. Anatomy of Failure: Philosophy and Political Action. London: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Filonov, Vladimir. 2011. ‘The Tiller Girls.’ The Moscow Times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdmYtZk88Lw. Accessed 20 March 2016.

  • Gibson, Prudence. 2014. Personal Communication with Edward Scheer, 24 June 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grehan, Helena. 2015. ‘Actors, Spectators and “Vibrant” Objects: Kris Verdonck’s ACTOR#1.’ TDR: The Drama Review 59(3): 132–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hibino, Kei. 2012. ‘Oscillating Between Fakery and Authenticity: Hirata Oriza’s Android Theatre.’ Comparative Theatre Review 11(1): 30–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirata, Oriza. 2010. ‘A Robotic Performance: Japanese Android Actress Geminoid F Appears on Stage Alongside Human in Play.’ Daily Mail, 15 November 2010. www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1329208/Robot-actress-Geminoid-F-performs-alongside-human-Japanese-play.html. Accessed 24 March 2015.

  • Lehmann, Hans-Thies. 2006. Postdramatic Theatre. Translated by Karen Jürs-Munby. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minato,Takashi, Shimada Michihiro, Ishiguro Hiroshi, and Itakura Shoji. 2004. ‘Development of an Android Robot for Studying Human-Robot Interaction.’ In Proceedings: IEA/AIE Conference, 426–443. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori, Masahiro. 1970. ‘The Uncanny Valley.’ Energy 7(4): 33–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton, Timothy. 2013. Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munster, Anne. 2006. Materializing New Media: Embodiment in Information Aesthetics. Hanover: Dartmouth College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, Jennifer. 2007. ‘Robo Sapiens Japanicus.’ Critical Asian Studies 39(3): 369–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, Steve. 2000. ‘Stanley Told Steven: “You’d be the Best Guy to Direct this Film”.’ The Guardian, 5 May 2000. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/may/05/1. Accessed 30 March 2016.

  • Scheer, Edward. 2015. ‘Robotics as New Media Dramaturgy: The Case of the Sleepy Robot.’ TDR: The Drama Review 59(3): 140–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stelarc. 2005. ‘Performing In-Difference E-Interview.’ Interview by Ed Scheer. Performance Paradigm 1: 86–92. www.performanceparadigm.net/index.php/journal/article/view/7. Accessed 20 November 2014.

  • Tsitas, Evelyn. 2009. ‘Fairy Tales and Technology.’ Text for Superhuman: Revolution of the Species Exhibition at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Gallery, 5 November–5 December 2009. http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse/Our%20Organisation/RMIT%20Gallery/;ID=7tssbek3il69;STATUS=A?QRY=des. Accessed 10 December 2009.

  • Van Baarle, Kristof, Christel Stalpaert, and Kris Verdonck. 2013. ‘Virtual dramaturgy: Finding Liberty in the Virtual Machine.’ Performance Research 18(5): 54–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Beek, Jozefien. 2010. ‘Objects are Perfect Tragic Heroes: interview with Kris Verdonck.’ trans_digital Website. http://transdigital.org/archive/articles/kris-verdonck-interview. Accessed 10 June 2014.

  • Van Kerkhoven, Marianne, and Anoek Nuyens, eds. 2012. Listen to the Bloody Machine: Creating Kris Verdonck’s END. Utrecht and Amsterdam: Uitgeverij International Theatre & Film Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Velonaki, Mari. 2016. ‘Mari Velonaki: Visual Artist.’ M.V. Studio Website. http://mvstudio.org/. Accessed 30 March 2016.

  • Verdonck, Kris. 2014a. Artist Talk, University of New South Wales, 2 August 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verdonck, Kris. 2014b. Unpublished Interview with Peter Eckersall and Edward Scheer. Sydney, 4 August 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehouse, David. 2005. ‘Japanese Develop ‘Female’ Android.’ BBC News Website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4714135.stm. Accessed 1 July 2014.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, USA

    Peter Eckersall

  2. Murdoch University, Perth, Australia

    Helena Grehan

  3. School of the Arts & Media, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Edward Scheer

Authors
  1. Peter Eckersall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Helena Grehan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Edward Scheer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

References

References

  • Artspace. 2013. ‘Artspace Visual Arts Centre: The Woman and the Snowman.’ 19th International Symposium on Electronic Art Website. http://www.isea2013.org/events/artspace-visual-arts-centre/. Accessed 29 March 2016.

  • Auslander, Philip. 2006. ‘Humanoid Boogie: Reflections on Robotic Performance.’ In Staging Philosophy: Intersections of Theatre, Performance, and Philosophy, edited by David Krasner, 87–103. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

  • Bennett, Jane. 2010. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham: Duke University Press.

  • Braidotti, Rosi. 2013. The Posthuman. Cambridge: Polity Press.

  • Demers, Louis-Philippe. 2010. Machine Performers: Agents in a Multiple Ontological State. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Plymouth.

  • Eckersall, Peter. 2006. ‘Towards an Expanded Dramaturgical Practice: A Report on “The Dramaturgy and Cultural Intervention Project”.’ Theatre Research International 31(3): 283–297.

  • Eckersall, Peter. 2012. ‘Locations of Dramaturgy – Kris Verdonck.’ Performance Research 17(3): 68–75.

  • Eckersall, Peter. 2015. ‘Towards a Dramaturgy of Robots and Object-Figures.’ TDR: The Drama Review 59(3): 123–131.

  • Eckersall, Peter, Helena Grehan, and Edward Scheer. 2014. ‘New Media Dramaturgy.’ In The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy, edited by Magda Romanska, 375–380. London: Routledge.

  • Feltham, Oliver. 2013. Anatomy of Failure: Philosophy and Political Action. London: Bloomsbury.

  • Festival a/d Werf. 2011. ‘Take it Personal.’ Festival aan de Werf Program. www.festivalaandewerf.nl/detail.php?id=226. Accessed 5 April 2012.

  • Filonov, Vladimir. 2011. ‘The Tiller Girls.’ The Moscow Times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdmYtZk88Lw. Accessed 20 March 2016.

  • Gibson, Prudence. 2014. Personal communication with Edward Scheer, 24 June 2014.

  • Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday.

  • Grehan, Helena. 2015. ‘‘Actors, Spectators, and “Vibrant” Objects: Kris Verdonck’s ACTOR #1.’ TDR: The Drama Review 59(3): 132–139.

  • Haraway, Donna. 2000. ‘A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century.’ In The Cybercultures Reader, edited by David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy, 291–324. London: Routledge.

  • Hibino, Kei. 2012. ‘Oscillating between Fakery and Authenticity: Hirata Oriza’s Android Theatre.’ Comparative Theatre Review 11(1): 30–42.

  • Hirata, Oriza. 2010. ‘A Robotic Performance: Japanese Android Actress Geminoid F Appears on Stage Alongside Human in Play.’ Daily Mail, 15 November 2010. www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1329208/Robot-actress-Geminoid-F-performs-alongside-human-Japanese-play.html. Accessed 24 March 2015.

  • Lehmann, Hans-Thies. 2006. Postdramatic Theatre. Translated by Karen Jürs-Munby. London: Routledge.

  • Minato, Takashi, Shimada Michihiro, Ishiguro Hiroshi, and Itakura Shoji. 2004. ‘Development of an Android Robot for Studying Human-Robot Interaction.’ In Proceedings: IEA/AIE Conference. Berlin: Springer: 426–443.

  • Mori, Masahiro. 1970. ‘The Uncanny Valley.’ Energy 7(4): 33–35.

  • Morton, Timothy. 2013. Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

  • Munster, Anne. 2006. Materializing New Media: Embodiment in Information Aesthetics. Hanover: Dartmouth College Press.

  • Robertson, Jennifer. 2007. ‘Robo Sapiens Japanicus.’ Critical Asian Studies 39(3): 369–398.

  • Rose, Steve. 2000. ‘Stanley told Steven: “You’d be the Best Guy to Direct this Film”.’ The Guardian, 5 May 2000. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/may/05/1. Accessed 30 March 2016.

  • Scheer, Edward. 2015. ‘Robotics as New Media Dramaturgy: The Case of the Sleepy Robot.’ TDR: The Drama Review 59(3): 140–149.

  • Stelarc. 2005. ‘Performing In-Difference E-Interview.’ Interview by Ed Scheer. Performance Paradigm 1: 86–92. www.performanceparadigm.net/index.php/journal/article/view/7. Accessed 20 November 2014.

  • Tsitas, Evelyn. 2009. ‘Fairy Tales and Technology.’ Text for Superhuman: Revolution of the Species Exhibition at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Gallery, 5 November–5 December 2009. http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse/Our%20Organisation/RMIT%20Gallery/;ID=7tssbek3il69;STATUS=A?QRY=des. Accessed 10 December 2009.

  • Van Baarle, Kristof, Christel Stalpaert, and Kris Verdonck. 2013. ‘Virtual Dramaturgy: Finding Liberty in the Virtual Machine.’ Performance Research 18(5): 54–62.

  • Van Beek, Jozefien. 2010. ‘Objects are Perfect Tragic Heroes: Interview with Kris Verdonck.’ trans_digital Website. http://transdigital.org/archive/articles/kris-verdonck-interview. Accessed 10 June 2014.

  • Van Kerkhoven, Marianne. ‘Installations/Performances of Kris Verdonck.’ Flanders Arts Institute Website. http://bamart.be/en/pages/detail/1185. Accessed 28 September 2014.

  • Van Kerkhoven, Marianne. 2011. ‘Kris Verdonck: EXHIBITION #1.’ Exhibition Catalogue. Hasselt, Belgium: Z33 Huis voor Actuele Kunst 24. http://issuu.com/z33be/docs/krisverdonck-exhibition1-minicatalog. Accessed 15 March 2015.

  • Van Kerkhoven, Marianne, and Anoek Nuyens. 2012. Listen to the Bloody Machine: Creating Kris Verdonck’s END. Utrecht and Amsterdam: Uitgeverij International Theatre & Film Books.

  • Velonaki, Mari. 2016. ‘Mari Velonaki: Visual Artist.’ M.V. Studio Website. http://mvstudio.org/. Accessed 30 March 2016.

  • Verdonck, Kris. ‘Kris Verdonck.’ A Two Dogs Company. www.atwodogscompany.org/en/kris-verdonck. Accessed 28 September.

  • Verdonck, Kris. 2011. ‘Program Notes.’ Actor #1. Festival a/d Werf, Utrecht.

  • Verdonck, Kris. 2014a. Artist talk, University of New South Wales, 2 August 2014.

  • Verdonck, Kris. 2014b. Unpublished Interview with Peter Eckersall and Edward Scheer, 5 August 2014.

  • Virilio, Paul. 2012. The Administration of Fear. Translated by Ames Hodges. Los Angeles: Semiotext(e).

  • Whitehouse, David. 2005. ‘Japanese Develop ‘Female’ Android.’ BBC News Website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4714135.stm. Accessed 1 July 2014.

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Eckersall, P., Grehan, H., Scheer, E. (2017). Robots: Asleep, Awake, Alone, and in Love. In: New Media Dramaturgy. New Dramaturgies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55604-2_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation