5 ms·

Survival Research Laboratories: Inconsiderate fantasies of negative acceleration

56 points by ptorrone 9y ago

VonGuard 9y ago
100 years from now, SRL will be considered to be the DaVinci of massively dangerous robotic art.
bsenftner 9y ago
Been watching SRL performances since the 80's... Went to one in the early 90's and feared for my life. Great fun!
notananthem 9y ago
Yeah, brought a SRL history/photo book to my first week of work, my manager was both slightly terrified and also happy he hired me.
wrs 9y ago
“Pleased and slightly nervous” aptly describes my feelings as an audience member at an SRL event. Maybe not “slightly”. I remember one in downtown SF (next to the SFMOMA site?) with a V-1 buzz bomb engine. They were dropping what I guessed might be balloons of acetylene gas into it. I thought the audience would be showered with glass from the adjacent building, but that didn’t quite happen. (IIRC, there were also giant stumbling robots of some sort, but I was more focused on the loud explosions and subsonic rumblings.)
ineedasername 9y ago
I wasnt sure if this was pure satire or something real until I read this part: ...capable of hurling a standard two-by-four at speeds up to 200 miles per hour. Violence and danger are materials in Pauline’s work, and fear is often a reasonable response..." Then I was nearly sure it was satire. I read more and saw the photos, and am now nearly convinced it's real. I kind of don't want to look further and pierce the veil of uncertainty.
- Breefield 9y ago
  Very real, the artist lives and works in Petaluma CA.
- wrs 9y ago
  It is real. If you're in the audience it's extremely real.
- legohead 9y ago
  The 200mph 2x4 by itself doesn't seem unreasonable to me. When I lived in Oklahoma and was searching for a storm shelter, a common strength-test was to launch 2x4s at them at extreme speeds, in excess of 120mph I believe. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIKBbRUcAoI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIKBbRUcAoI
inostia 9y ago
Saw these guys in LA a few years ago. Mark Pauline is a true visionary.Excellent show, well worth attending.
jjwiseman 9y ago
I think this piece is actually a sculpted version of Mark Pauline's hand: https://cdn-blog.adafruit.com/uploads/2018/01/IMG_0245.jpg https://cdn-blog.adafruit.com/uploads/2018/01/IMG_0245.jpg Details and gory photos at http://www.srl.org/yard/misc/injury.html http://www.srl.org/yard/misc/injury.html ("In 1982 Mark was working with a rocket motor that exploded in front of him.")

56 points by ptorrone 9y ago

VonGuard 9y ago

100 years from now, SRL will be considered to be the DaVinci of massively dangerous robotic art.

bsenftner 9y ago

Been watching SRL performances since the 80's... Went to one in the early 90's and feared for my life. Great fun!

notananthem 9y ago

Yeah, brought a SRL history/photo book to my first week of work, my manager was both slightly terrified and also happy he hired me.

wrs 9y ago

“Pleased and slightly nervous” aptly describes my feelings as an audience member at an SRL event. Maybe not “slightly”. I remember one in downtown SF (next to the SFMOMA site?) with a V-1 buzz bomb engine. They were dropping what I guessed might be balloons of acetylene gas into it. I thought the audience would be showered with glass from the adjacent building, but that didn’t quite happen. (IIRC, there were also giant stumbling robots of some sort, but I was more focused on the loud explosions and subsonic rumblings.)

ineedasername 9y ago

I wasnt sure if this was pure satire or something real until I read this part: ...capable of hurling a standard two-by-four at speeds up to 200 miles per hour. Violence and danger are materials in Pauline’s work, and fear is often a reasonable response..." Then I was nearly sure it was satire. I read more and saw the photos, and am now nearly convinced it's real. I kind of don't want to look further and pierce the veil of uncertainty.

Breefield 9y ago
Very real, the artist lives and works in Petaluma CA.
wrs 9y ago
It is real. If you're in the audience it's extremely real.
legohead 9y ago
The 200mph 2x4 by itself doesn't seem unreasonable to me. When I lived in Oklahoma and was searching for a storm shelter, a common strength-test was to launch 2x4s at them at extreme speeds, in excess of 120mph I believe. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIKBbRUcAoI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIKBbRUcAoI

inostia 9y ago

Saw these guys in LA a few years ago. Mark Pauline is a true visionary.Excellent show, well worth attending.

jjwiseman 9y ago

I think this piece is actually a sculpted version of Mark Pauline's hand: https://cdn-blog.adafruit.com/uploads/2018/01/IMG_0245.jpg https://cdn-blog.adafruit.com/uploads/2018/01/IMG_0245.jpg Details and gory photos at http://www.srl.org/yard/misc/injury.html http://www.srl.org/yard/misc/injury.html ("In 1982 Mark was working with a rocket motor that exploded in front of him.")