Huang Yi & Kuka

It is said that science deals with that-which-is, technology with that-which-can-be, and the humanities with questions about that-which-should-be.  I left the pre-show discussion with a really uneasy feeling about the topics presented.  From videos of dog-like robots to human replica robotics, the discussion was very technology focused with barely a hint to the question of what should be created (rather than what can be created).  The Huang Yi & Kuka performance, however, was beautifully and artfully accomplished.  We were taken on a journey which invoked human expression of empathy with the machine through movements and interaction, the machine's "perspective" through seeing, and culminating in a performance that was orchestrated to appear as if the machine were controlling the digital movements of the human dancers all-the-while remaining purposefully aware of the machines existence as a machine.  There was no attempt to mask its true being, trick your senses, or be perceived as anything other than what it is.  That is to say it was not made to represent anything other than the machine.  Its form, sound, and functional abilities were celebrated through each act of the performance.