Artificial Life

Curator. Consolidated Works, Seattle. October  – November 1999

Artists: Mark Bennett, Lauren Grossman, Jim Rittimann, Sandy Skoglund, Dr. Mark Tilden, Shawn Wolfe

Excerpt from curatorial statement:

Last spring, a Discovery Channel show called Robots Rising captured my attention—not for the subject matter itself, but for the unfiltered excitement and wonder of the scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratories. Dr. Mark W. Tilden, internationally recognized as a pioneer in analog robotic technology, beams with pride as he observes his tiny solar-powered, insect-like robots responding instinctually to their environments. Constructed from simple hardware—transistor radios, old calculators, discarded pagers—these paper-airplane-sized machines survive obstacles, recover from damage, and perform basic tasks with no programming. Over 300 robots created by Tilden and his team operate on artificial nervous systems and electronic cores, achieving something remarkably close to artificial life.

The exhibition takes Tilden’s robots as its scientific anchor while expanding outward to broader notions of artificial life. Artists explore the intersections of technology, human creativity, and the questions that define existence: ethics, morality, mortality, memory, and imagination. Works in the show resonate with Tilden’s obsessive craftsmanship, reflecting on everything from dreams and role-playing games to propaganda, personal memory, and the fantastical possibilities of time travel.

As the millennium unfolds and technology accelerates, the exhibition highlights the shared creative spirit of scientists and artists alike. Tilden’s “living” machines challenge the scientific definition of life; the accompanying works push our understanding of life, perception, and the ways humans invent, observe, and reimagine the world around them.