Humorous, interactive, political robotics

JIM PALLAS is ASCI's WEBSITE "FEATURED ARTIST" FOR JUNE…..

Visit our homepage at: www.asci.org to see a detail of his "Senate
Piece", which is one of his interactive "Political Robots" that was
commissioned by Senator Carl Levin. THE SENATE PIECE consists of three
sculptures: THE MAIN PIECE, THE FALLING DOLLAR and ONE OF THE BOYS. THE
MAIN PIECE (on our homepage) senses five things: the sound of the Senate
proceedings which are piped-up to the office from the floor of the
Senate, the buzzer and light signal system, sounds in Senator Levin's
office, the movement of warm objects (usually people) in front of the
sculpture, and the general light level in the office. It then responds
to these stimuli by activating various features of itself and the other
two sculptures according to an idiosyncratic logic designed into the
circuitry. There is no one-to-one correspondence between any one
environmental event and any specific behavior of the sculpture.
Generally, ONE OF THE BOYS only inflates during quorum calls, the dollar
may fall at any time, and the action of the wheels of justice is erratic.