Event 3: Coyotes in Two Directions

What traits allow some animals to succeed and others to be endangered? How do animals adapt in an age of machinery and urbanization? These are the questions and themes explored in Sarah Rosalena Brady's "Coyotes in Two Directions". Inspired by the dichotomy between biology and machinery, Brady's piece evaluates how animals can be represented by sculpture in the 21st century.

The centerpiece of Brady's exhibit is an automata of 6 aluminum-cast bald eagle talons, connected to servos which allow them to move. Inspired by the endangered status of the bald eagle and themes of reanimation, the talons move in quick and symmetrical fashion, illustrating both grace and protectiveness. The eagle is flanked by a bronze-cast sculpture of a rattlesnake tail on the left, and coyote paws on the right.

This exhibit exemplifies the possibilities that the combination of Robotics and Art can bring. In my week 3 blog, I evaluated not only how people can portray robotics through their art, but how they can integrate robotics to create the art itself. Brady has done this successfully with her "eagle" sculpture; while she constructed the mechanism connecting the servos to a computer program, the program itself is randomized. This way, each arrangement of the eagle's talons is entirely unique, created by the computer program without input from a human. While the robot isn't necessarily creating the art on its own, the use of a robot allows the art to shift and adapt, much like a coyote or an eagle does in response to changes in its environment.

Additionally, Brady's exploration of biological and machine design is embodied by the dichotomy between the hybrid of the "imperfect" biological designs of rattlesnake tails and coyote paws, as well as the "perfect" machine-crafted geometries that hold the sculptures together. The rattlesnake's body is balanced on its body, distilled down to a point. The pairs of coyote paws pointed in opposite directions may be a physical illustration of coyote behavior: coyotes generally hunt as pairs, and the steel beams between the paws may represent the bond the pair shares. It's an interesting commentary on the role of biological evolution and natural selection in the age of human-inspired machine design.

Sources:

Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.

Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.
“Coyotes 101.” CoyoteSmart, www.coyotesmarts.org/coyotes101/.
Brady, Sarah Rosalena. “COYOTES IN TWO DIRECTIONS.” UCLA Art | Sci Center + Lab, 7 June 2018, artsci.ucla.edu/node/1395.

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