Borders can appear hard and fixed on maps, in language, and in space. But these borders are constructed and ultimately malleable. Border Cro...
Borders can appear hard and fixed on maps, in language, and in space. But these borders are constructed and ultimately malleable. Border Crossers comprise a series of lightweight robotic sculptures that poetically explore and question the notion of borders and boundary conditions. The inflatable sculptures, working in tandem, rise up to several stories high and extend across a given threshold. Their choreographed performance, originating on both sides of the border, would stage a symbolic connection. nnEach physical deployment would also take the form of a mediatized event, recorded and broadcast over the web using satellite and video feeds. nBorder Crossers provoke investigation of borders as constructed entities. At one level its actions embody a simple curiosity to see what lies on the other side of a border (national, architectural, environmental, etc.). On another level the work expresses a utopian desire to live in a world without borders. The project treats the border as a physical condition that can be temporarily transcended by technological proxies. It offers a critique of militarized geopolitical borders, and a metaphorical suspension of those borders in the form of temporary arches or partial arches equipped with sensing and surveillance technology. nnThe specific choreography of the inflatable machines would vary from one situation to the next. In one imagined scenario along the U.S.---Mexico border fence, up to six inflatable units would be installed on opposite sides of the border (either public or private property in towns or the desert). At dusk, the reflective white, ethereal forms are activated by compressed air, and begin to grow gradually, gracefully upwards into towers, standing out against their surroundings. The robots use their “muscles” to move and undulate into a variety of forms as they rise. Once they reach above the barrier fence, they begin to arch toward the other side of the border. Those machines anchored on the Mexican side cross over and touch down on the U.S side. Reciprocally, the U.S.---based machines touch down on Mexican soil at the same moment. Together the machines, illuminated from inside or outside, form six unifying archways, simultaneously inhabiting and puncturing the artificial border imposed upon the citizens of these countries. nnBorder Crossers invites the public to rethink the notion of borders in a globalized world. Technology currently helps to overcome cultural and economic borders, but is also frequently used to maintain and reinforce physical borders. This project envisions technology as a positive tool to establish dialogues beyond borders, to question borders, and to create a symbolic suspension and transcendence of borders.nnThe Border Crossers remind us that we are connected, that borders can be temporary (as temporary as the “crossing” performance). Their actions allude to the equality of humanity against a backdrop of tensions and conflicts over national and cultural identity. Technology comes to the fore in this questioning of the boundaries placed upon trans--- border cultures and ecologies.nnThe first Border Crosser was presented by ZERO1 in San Jose, CA in February 2016 and was supported, in part, by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José, Arizona State University Art Museum and Herberger Institute School of Art, the Montalvo Arts Center, and Dyneema®. Less
