Does a machine, any machine, create alienation just by virtue of being a machine? The answer, as far as we are concerned, is negative. The performance Heart for the Tin Man is a celebration of homemade machines, which have nothing to do with usefulness or usability – in the sense we usually attach to these terms.
At the center of the performance stands a large painting machine, painting enormous abstract paintings in acrylic. The machine paints on a large canvas in response to the human voices and musical instruments that surround it. The audio and visual structures are open, and only subordinated to the interaction between the robotic parts and the human playing.
Heart for the Tin Man was commissioned as the opening show at Fresh Paint 5. During the performance, Assaf Talmudi (accordion) and special guests Shlomi Shaban (piano) and Ronald Boersen (violin) played music that activated the painting robot and a dozen robotic drums in real-time. Sound was automatically translated into the robot’s movements and the release of acrylic paint by a computerized mechanism, merging human expression with mechanical creation.
Mapping information - particularly sound - lies at the heart of Liat Segal’s practice. Other works focusing on this theme include Plate Recorder, Epicenter, and Written in Stone.