Workshop about robots and rubbish

Artificial life is beginning to form amongst the flotsam and jetsam of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Curious bionic creatures, animal-machine hybrids consisting of junk and debris, crawling ashore with whatever appendages they have, squeal “I’m finally alive!”.

I was invited to run a one-week workshop for second year graphic design BA students at Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn. During the workshop the students learned how to build analog electronic circuits and mechanical structures, and applied those skills into making robotic creatures out of recycled materials. Drawing inspiration from the natural process of evolution and role-playing techniques, the students bred and evolved the robots throughout the week. The end result of the workshop was a taxonomy of robotic creatures that have emerged from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.