THE HAND AND THE ARM
Curime Batliner, 2019
“This situation cannot be acceptable to those whose art requires and calls for the engagement of making, a poetic act of revelation directly related to experience and directly derived from techné as bringing forth into presence. Architecture cannot form places without the tectonics of making: technology must be re-engaged. Architecture that is resistant to determination by technological thinking may be accomplished through research into more original relationships between man and technology; through rediscovery of experimental and inventive technological creation; and through re-engagement of technology and experience in the making of tectonic form. If architecture is to escape from the endless cycles of use and progress, it must place itself in opposition; in this effort the machine offers both danger and hope, for if such opposition is to be possible, it must come from within, from a more original conception of the nature of technology itself.”
- Robert McCarter, "Escape From the Revolving Door: Architecture and the Machine." Pamphlet Architecture No. 12: Building; Machines (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1987) 11.
An arm moves, it moves up, it moves down, it moves sideways, it moves in circles. The arm moves in tangent, it moves in tandem, it moves in danger, it moves at peace. The arm moves fast, it moves slow, it moves in silence - appears in control. The power cuts, a deep breath, everything halts. A hand presses a button. The arm pushes ahead, and a stream of glue-like resin starts flowing across the surface. It zigzags in patterns, up and down, right and left, running in contrary, in parallel, across and behind, always moving forward. The power cuts again, the compressor stalls, the arm hits the breaks, the resin cures. In darkness the hand searches for an electrical panel, finds the switch, the light starts humming. The compressor roars, the logic board clicks, the motor accelerates, the arm runs again. A tap on the keyboard, a scratch on the forehead, a turn on the wheels and the hand works in sync. The steadiness of the arm becomes the strength of the hand and the judgment of the hand becomes the ingenuity of the arm. At times the hand becomes the arm and the arm turns into the hand. The hand gives sway to the desire of the arm, and the arm waits for the intention of the hand. Strangers in tune, the two progress in dialog, shaping an object that is both an artifact as well an insight to this evolving conversation. The object viewed as a whole and yet considered through every branch of its veins, every bump and every skip, projecting a record of the arm speaking to the hand and the hand talking to the arm.
a source of light passes through the object
projects a shadow
distilled dialogue
Show Sponsor:
Lucky Bucket Brewing Co.
Curime Batliner, 2019
“This situation cannot be acceptable to those whose art requires and calls for the engagement of making, a poetic act of revelation directly related to experience and directly derived from techné as bringing forth into presence. Architecture cannot form places without the tectonics of making: technology must be re-engaged. Architecture that is resistant to determination by technological thinking may be accomplished through research into more original relationships between man and technology; through rediscovery of experimental and inventive technological creation; and through re-engagement of technology and experience in the making of tectonic form. If architecture is to escape from the endless cycles of use and progress, it must place itself in opposition; in this effort the machine offers both danger and hope, for if such opposition is to be possible, it must come from within, from a more original conception of the nature of technology itself.”
- Robert McCarter, "Escape From the Revolving Door: Architecture and the Machine." Pamphlet Architecture No. 12: Building; Machines (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1987) 11.
An arm moves, it moves up, it moves down, it moves sideways, it moves in circles. The arm moves in tangent, it moves in tandem, it moves in danger, it moves at peace. The arm moves fast, it moves slow, it moves in silence - appears in control. The power cuts, a deep breath, everything halts. A hand presses a button. The arm pushes ahead, and a stream of glue-like resin starts flowing across the surface. It zigzags in patterns, up and down, right and left, running in contrary, in parallel, across and behind, always moving forward. The power cuts again, the compressor stalls, the arm hits the breaks, the resin cures. In darkness the hand searches for an electrical panel, finds the switch, the light starts humming. The compressor roars, the logic board clicks, the motor accelerates, the arm runs again. A tap on the keyboard, a scratch on the forehead, a turn on the wheels and the hand works in sync. The steadiness of the arm becomes the strength of the hand and the judgment of the hand becomes the ingenuity of the arm. At times the hand becomes the arm and the arm turns into the hand. The hand gives sway to the desire of the arm, and the arm waits for the intention of the hand. Strangers in tune, the two progress in dialog, shaping an object that is both an artifact as well an insight to this evolving conversation. The object viewed as a whole and yet considered through every branch of its veins, every bump and every skip, projecting a record of the arm speaking to the hand and the hand talking to the arm.
a source of light passes through the object
projects a shadow
distilled dialogue
Show Sponsor:
Lucky Bucket Brewing Co.
Photos Courtesy of Dan Schwalm
Video Courtesy of Curime Batliner
About the Artist:
Curime Batliner is an architect and artist defying definitions of genre. He explores every medium, from film and installations to architectural interventions. His ideas and artistic practice, deal with the shifting relationships between the human and the artificial and revolve around contemporary platforms and public spaces that constitute itself through layering of physical infrastructure with digital protocols, simulations and public performances.
Batliner is faculty at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, SCI-Arc, where he teaches classes in the graduate and postgraduate programs and is responsible for the coordination of the robotics lab. Balancing his curiosity he bounces between teaching, applied research, commercial collaborations and his artistic practice.
His work has been exhibited at Design Miami, Mextropoli, Museo Nacional de Arte Mexico and he has worked with brands such as Creative Artists Agency, Oblong Industries and TBWA. He has collaborated on Greg Lynn’s RV Prototype as well on the world’s first Active Energy Building by Falkeis2Architects. His design research is published at the ICRA IEEE International Conference for Robotics and Automation as well as Robots in Architecture.
www.curime.us
Curime Batliner is an architect and artist defying definitions of genre. He explores every medium, from film and installations to architectural interventions. His ideas and artistic practice, deal with the shifting relationships between the human and the artificial and revolve around contemporary platforms and public spaces that constitute itself through layering of physical infrastructure with digital protocols, simulations and public performances.
Batliner is faculty at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, SCI-Arc, where he teaches classes in the graduate and postgraduate programs and is responsible for the coordination of the robotics lab. Balancing his curiosity he bounces between teaching, applied research, commercial collaborations and his artistic practice.
His work has been exhibited at Design Miami, Mextropoli, Museo Nacional de Arte Mexico and he has worked with brands such as Creative Artists Agency, Oblong Industries and TBWA. He has collaborated on Greg Lynn’s RV Prototype as well on the world’s first Active Energy Building by Falkeis2Architects. His design research is published at the ICRA IEEE International Conference for Robotics and Automation as well as Robots in Architecture.
www.curime.us