Joel Murphy

Brooklyn, NY
Residency: October-November 2005

"My work is best described as robotic, but not in a typical sense. When we think of robots we usually see them as monsters or slaves, with their attention directed squarely at us humans. I’m more intrigued by robots as machine intellects with desire and behaviors beyond our petty needs and fears. I construct unconventional robotic devices by applying the principals of cybernetics and negative feedback to everyday machines like household appliances and tools. In the process the machines are encouraged to explore the potential of their function as an expressive outlet. We have already formed intimate relationships with the familiar hardware that surrounds us daily: toasters, coffee makers, power tools, etc. and by knowing them we are more likely to sense an understanding of their true nature when they are given a sliver of autonomy. Hacking them to the core of their function and then building them up again in a way to give them control over their function results in robots that gesture toward an equilibrium of their own desire. These machines and systems explore our relationship with the world which we continue to construct." — Joel Allen Murphy

About the Artist
Joel Allen Murphy has recently exhibited at Pierogi Gallery, New York; Exit Art, New York and at the Digital Design Conference and Exhibition at UC San Diego. He is the recipient of numerous awards and has been reviewed in The New York Times Art Review. Murphy received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Massachusetts College of Art and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, San Diego. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.