AutArky was a cyborganic installation exhibited in “A Life of Its Own/Una Vida por Su Cuenta” , a show that I curated at the Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City in 1996, of Toronto Cybernetic Artists, whose work displayed Emergent Behaviour.
Micro-switches translated the movement of mice living in the “Computer” to voltages controlling the distribution of water from the aquarium “Monitor” through the “Coffee Maker” onto the seeded soil “Desktop”. The water supply in the aquarium was replenished automatically from the nearby Water Cooler. The piece grew for one month, and the security guard took home the mice as pets for his kids at the end of the show.
Made in collaboration with Catherine Orfald.
