Brian Despain's new robot show

I love the way these combine robots/steampunk with fantasy and religious art.

Do robots get irony?

Even Robots Get the Blues

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

Never trust robots - Andrew Thompson

Never trust robots.

Never trust robots.

You might think that they're your friend,

They'll only kill you in the end.

They think they can make music

What is this all about?

I mean the blog, not T5K (for the answer to that question, I refer you to the manifesto).

THE OBVIOUS GOAL: we want to chronicle our journey in making this happen.  Providing theatre-making recipes on the internet is but one of many ways we can turn the robots' own tools against them.

FURTHERMORE: we shall be combing the internets for all things robotic.  We shall present to you our Findings, for your amusement and edification.  This may be a good place to start if you are interested in submitting.

AND INEVITABLY: this blog will be an organizational tool leading up to the festival itself.  We have several exciting FUNdraising events planned, including readings, parties and more.  Consider this your personal tin can telephone to Robofest central.

A call for submissions

We present: Theatron5000, a theatre festival to explore Robot Themes.  The festival will run in New York in mid summer, 2010.  We are currently seeking friendly submissions of both full length (90 minutes and under) and one-act (20 minutes and under) theatre pieces that share our goals.  Primarily we are looking for scripts (which we will help you pair with a production team), but we're also open to group devised and ensemble generated proposals.  This is going to be a big project, and if you're reading this it means we want you involved.

Please send your submission (or any questions or comments) to Theatron5000@gmail.com no later than December 20th.  You are welcome to forward this e-mail to Interested Parties.  Please understand that we will not be able to do every show due to practical, economical and chronological reasons.

This festival is about doing something big, that garners attention, provides opportunities to our talented friends, and is of the highest artistic value.

We hope you can join us,
Elliot Quick and Dan Rogers
Curators

Manifesto

In its first 5000 days of existence, the collective computing power of the internet has grown to roughly that of a single human brain (http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html). Over the next 5000 days, it will come to rival the collective computing power of every brain on earth. We are at the dawn of the information age staring into a future of hive mentality, relentless uplink and the ultimate integration of man and his tools. Robots are no longer the domain of science fiction.

We’re headed into dark days, friends, but a glimmer of hope shines in the face of the imminent robocalypse—a path of resistance lies unclaimed, resting on one irrefutable fact: Robots will never understand theatre. By its very nature, the live event defies the documentation and digitation of the robot consciousness. It is singular. It is transient. It cannot be googled or tweeted or blogged.

The time is now. Let us lay claim to the stage as the space where human beings come together to share in the ephemeral, the unmediated, the genuine article in a world full of hyperlinks. Let us embrace it as a forum to examine man's relationship with his machines. Let us celebrate it as that which the robots could never replicate. Let us have a robot theatre festival. Because robots are awesome, so long as we have our hands on the power switch.