Controlled Dream Machine

Controlled Dream Machine is an installation that creates an unconscious state of dreaming for a machine; a dreaming robot leg suspended from the ceiling where its dreams are expressed by animations projected in a layer in front of the legs. The legs are simulating the physical body of a person dreaming - the state of consciousness, while the animations are the unconscious mind in form of a dream. The legs are constantly generating symptoms from the dreams, which are depending on what unconscious area the legs are in that moment. It dreams of Sensations, Memories, Collective Unconscious, Traumas and Nightmares. Inside the legs there are scars in format of lights, that are stimulated by distributed patterns of neural activity while it dreams.

The robot body is a metaphor for the state of consciousness of a physical body while dreaming, floating on the unconscious. As it floats on the ceiling, the body reacts as an unconscious puppet, where the consciousness is only the recording surface of the self. The system is made visible by an omnipresent mechanism of outside (the body) and inside (the dreams) reflecting the symptoms between the relationship of consciousness and unconscious, exploring the mental levels of the human psyche. As a result of this interconnection, the work atmosphere is not only an estrangement between awakening state, somnambulant drive and REM (Rapid Eye Movement), but is also marked by a fragile tension involving neurosis symptoms from the body of the robot as it passes through dreams. The Legs are a kinetic sculpture in a fragmented body; lonely neurotic robot Legs perform a semi-conscious process of searching for identity while dreaming.

Colaborators:
Alexandre Vicente: robotic engineer
Enrique Estegar: electronc engineer, programming
Simone Jones: motors and design
Theo Firmo: Sound for animations

Supported by Medialab Prado and University of Plymouth