Misguided Machines are constructed to appear as if they are failing at what they were built to do. Rather, they succeed in what they are trying to do, it's just that their goals are so misguided that in "succeeding" all they really accomplish is to show just how little they understand of the world they live in.
They were inspired by almost 10 years working overseas, negotiating the overlap between my own assumptions of my projects' value and utility within these other cultures, and the roles they actually fulfilled.
This contraption is a life-support for a dying animal built with wood rescued from the rubbish-bin. A windshield-wiper motor cranks a cam that pumps a bellows that allows this little piece of fur to breathe away within its warmly lit shack. You can watch a video (choose 9mb or 3mb) or look at a few photographs.
In the second iteration of this project, our fake dying animal attempts to save the life of a real but dead animal. You can watch the redux in 9mb or 3mb sizes.
This piece was exhibited at Pixilerations, Providence, Rhode Island, 2006, and Translations: Misguided Machines and Cultural Loops, at Duo Multicultural Art Center, New York, 2006.
