“We have to understand that the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation… The hand is the cutting edge of the mind” affirmed Jacob Bronowski in his 1973 “The Ascent of Man”. Even if we’re convinced that we “grasp” a good part of the world through our screens, we should finally realise that we are actually contemplating it for most of the time. Action, indeed, needs physical movement, but also strategy, and sometimes invention. Chico MacMurtrie is an artist working with robots, which are often literally ”extending”, like a proper machine, human possibilities. He is keen to recognise and use geometry in nature and mechanics, exploiting its fascinating properties. And a strategic geometry is implemented in his “Border Crossers”, a series of lightweight robotic sculptures, exploring the notions of border and conditions of boundary. In the current almost dystopian scenario of geopolitical conflicts, the most powerful are turning their backs on them, backdating their thinking to a middle-age physical exclusion enabled through the rising of walls of separation. This artwork disrupts this sadly spread solution with an inventive use of technologies. They are inflatable devices, rising several stories high and extending then across a given threshold. We can think about them as similar middle age counter structures, activist “technological proxies”, suspending the induced rupture and rebalancing reason. Their arching is just dismantling the abuse of power, joining again intellects on both sides.

 

Chico MacMurtrie – Border Crossers: trial runs