artist teaches robots to love punk, but will they pogo?

fiddian warman built some robots controlled by a neural network. neural networks can learn, so he's been playing them classic punk records in an attempt to turn them into robotic versions of his younger self. the robots are 2 metres tall and have the ability to pogo.

it all culminates in a gig at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in london (3-5 july 2008: bring your friends!). the artist has formed a punk band (neurotic and the pvcs) for the occasion: they're going to play to the robots and the audience and see if the robots dance. (support acts include scrotum clamp and the devil's hotpants: should be a hoot!)

if the gig sounds scary and you'd rather just discuss questions such as

In the robots we also see the possibility of a socially value free enjoyment of music – these robots have no heirs and graces, no normative social beliefs that would prohibit the enjoyment of any form of music. They don’t have cultural baggage – is their judgment objective as a result?

.. you can do so at a blog dedicated to the aesthetic and philosophical issues arising from the experiment, here.

(i hope they post videos after the event.)

link
found via networked_music_review