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SRL performance in Chinatown, Los Angeles, January 2006

Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) is an American performance art group which pioneered the genre of large-scale machine performance.[1][2][3] Founded in 1978 by Mark Pauline in San Francisco the group is known in particular for performances where custom-built machines, often robotic, compete to destroy each other.[4][5] The performances, described by one critic as "noisy, violent and destructive",[6] are noted for visual and aural cacophony created by the often dangerous interactions of the machinery.[7][8] SRL's work is related to process art and generative art. [9]

History

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SRL was started in San Francisco in 1978 by Mark Pauline.[4][10][11] Critics drew parallels between the group's founding and the punk and industrial music scenes of San Francisco at the time.[12][13][14] The group's name is a parody of corporate culture.[15] Pauline said that "the vision for SRL was always about creepy, scary, violent and extreme performances that really captured the feeling of machines as living things".[16]

SRL's early collaborators included the machine artists including Matt Heckert and Eric Werner.[15][17] Heckert's work in the group centered on the acoustic and musical parts of performance.[18] He left the group in 1988 to follow his musical interests.[18] After about 30 years in San Francisco, SRL moved to Petaluma, California in 2008.[19][20]

Shows

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As of late 2023, SRL has conducted over 120 shows throughout the world, mostly in the western United States.[21][22] SRL shows are essentially performance art installations acted out by machines rather than people. The interactions between the machines have been characterized as "noisy, violent, and destructive".[6] A frequent tag-line on SRL literature is "Producing the most dangerous shows on Earth."[23] A side-effect of the group's activities is frequent interactions with governmental and legal authorities.

Their performances are also given colorfully elaborate names as a comment on bureaucratically generated research projects & papers, such as A Calculated Forecast of Ultimate Doom: Sickening Episodes of Widespread Devastation Accompanied by Sensations of Pleasurable Excitement.[24] The first SRL show was Machine Sex on February 25, 1979.[25][26][4] The event featured a device called The Demanufacturing Machine which "demanufactured" objects by shredding them and flinging them toward the audience.[4] The 1982 show A Cruel and Relentless Plot to Pervert the Flesh of beasts to Unholy Uses integrated machines with objects such as mummified and dissected animals and a robot that was part metallic dog, part cadaver.[26][27][28]

In August 11, 1985 8pm, at 330 Santa Fe Ave., Los Angeles SLR performed "Extremely Cruel Practices: A series of events designed to instruct those interested in policies that correct or punish". Billed as: LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) and ANTICLUB present: A Machine Performance by Survival Research Laboratories / Mark Pauline and Matt Heckert, assisted by Eric Werner, Neal Pauline, and Monte Cazazza. Performed at an abandoned train depot lot, situated with the Los Angeles concrete river to the east, the 1st street bridge to the north, the 4th street bridge to the south. Attendees were required to sign a waiver before admission. [29]

The group performed The Misfortunes of Desire (Acted Out at an Imaginary Location Symbolizing Everything Worth Having) in 1988 in the parking lot of Shea Stadium in Queens, New York.[30][31] Using 22 tons of equipment the show included a shock wave cannon, a 4-legged walking machine, a high power flame thrower, a radio-controlled tank and a 1,200-pound catapult.[30][32] The show was sponsored by the New York City arts groups The New Museum, Creative Time, and The Kitchen.[32]

In 1989 the group presented Illusions of Shameless Abundance in San Francisco. The show, staged in the SOMA area under an on-ramp to the Bay Bridge, featured stacks of burning pianos, vats of spoiled food, and flame-breathing robots.[33] The show's use of fake sculptures resembling high explosive devices led to beach closures and the involvement of the city's bomb squad the next day.[33][34] The group produced the 1995 show Crime Wave in San Francisco.[17]

Their 1996 show in Phoenix titled Survival Research Laboratories Contemplates a Million Inconsiderate Experiments, featured robots, flame throwers, and a V-1 jet engine.[35][36] In 1997 SRL staged The Unexpected Destruction of Elaborately Engineered Artifacts in Austin, Texas.[37][38] In 2006 they performed Ghostly Scenes of Infernal Desecration in San Jose, California.[16] The performance featured an air launcher, a hovercraft, and a shockwave cannon.[39] [8]

Reception

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SRL has received serious consideration as not only a pioneer of industrial performance art,[40] but also as a legitimate heir to the traditions of Dada and the art of Jean Tinguely in which paradoxical creations are used to call into question the state and direction of technological society.[41]

In addition, many SRL members were later involved in other avant-garde artistic projects like the Cacophony Society, the Suicide Club, The Haters, Robochrist Industries, People Hater, Seemen, Burning Man, and robotics projects including Battlebots and Robot Wars.

SRL has been praised as being a place where many women have access to working with robotics and advanced machine workshop tools.[42][43][44][4]

List of SRL devices

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See also Survival Research Laboratories' own list of machines
  • The Demanufacturing Machine which "demanufactured" objects by shredding them and flinging them toward the audience.[4] This device was featured at SRL's first show titled Machine Sex on February 25, 1979.[45][26][4]
  • Assured Destructive Capability – a robot that defecated on photographs of Soviet premier at the time.[46]
  • Flame Hurricane – five Pulsejet engines and louvers arranged in a circle to produce a rapidly rotating column of hot wind, plus flames[47]
  • Hand-O'-God - a giant spring-loaded hand, cocked by an air cylinder
  • High Pressure Air Launcher – originally developed by NASA for use in avalanche control; fires beer cans filled with plaster using a CO2 charge. A parody of warfare technologies, with the device's operator wearing a head-mounted display.[48]
  • The Pitching Machine – a device which fires 2x4 pieces of lumber
  • Shockwave Cannon – a device which fires a shockwave of air, shattering glass remotely with the force, constructed similarly to the shockwave-based Wunderwaffen anti-bomber device or the so-called hail cannon.
  • Six-Legged "Running" Machine – a gas-engine powered tripedal device featuring three pairs of legs which reciprocate using a chain-driven tank-tread-like actuator, alternately extending to provide locomotion. The front pair of legs pivots, providing steering, while the rear two pairs provide forward motion.
  • Square Wheeled Car – industrial vehicle equipped with square wheels and no brakes or external control.
  • 1984 Stu Walker – a spider-like[49] flame-shooting robot that was controlled by the motions of Mark Pauline's pet guinea pig "Stu"[50][51]
  • The V1 – a replica of the engine of a World War II V1 flying bomb pulse jet
  • Wheelocopter – a spinning machine which applies the principles of rotorcraft to a two-dimensional plane

Accidents and controversies

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In 1982 Pauline lost two fingers from his right hand while attempting to make solid rocket fuel.[52][5] Due to the 1989 San Francisco show Illusions of Shameless Abundance SRL was banned in 2011 from performing in the city by the San Francisco Fire Department.[23][53]

The sound of 1991 test in San Francisco of a homemade V-1 rocket engine resulted in police attention and a reported 300 calls to the city's earthquake hotline.[33][54] In 2007 SRL crew member Todd Blair suffered a serious brain injury during the take-down of an SRL show at the Robodock Arts & Technology Festival in Amsterdam.[5][55]

References

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  1. ^ "LA – The Art of Extreme Robotics". rhizome.org. February 24, 2002. Archived from the original on 2007-07-06.
  2. ^ V. Vale (ed), "Industrial Culture Handbook", Re/Search Publications, 1983
  3. ^ Mark Pauline NNDB.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Hertz, Garnet (30 May 2023). Art + DIY Electronics. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262044936.
  5. ^ a b c Alexander Reed, S. (11 July 2013). Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199832583.
  6. ^ a b Kostelanetz, Richard (November 15, 2018). A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes. Routledge. ISBN 9781351267106 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Terrorism as art: Mark Pauline's dangerous machines". The Verge. October 9, 2012.
  8. ^ a b A day with Survival Research Labs News.com reporter risks life and ego at a post-industrial robot and fire art show. by Daniel Terdiman Aug. 14, 2006, cnet.
  9. ^ Gottlieb, Baruch (2010). "Los signos vitales del arte procesual" (in Spanish). Laboral Centro de Arte. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  10. ^ Rombes, Nicholas (June 2010). A Cultural Dictionary of Punk: 1974-1982. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781441105059.
  11. ^ Eggebeen, Rachel (June 1998). Interface: Art + tech in the Bay area. Duke University Museum of Art. ISBN 9780938989189.
  12. ^ "SPIN". August 1999.
  13. ^ Molon, Dominic; Diederichsen, Diedrich; Elms, Anthony; Hell, Richard; Graham, Dan; Higgs, Matthew; Koether, Jutta; Nickas, Bob; Kelley, Mike; Tumlir, Jan (2007). Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300134261.
  14. ^ "How to Get Away With Stealing Military-Grade Technology: An Interview With Survival Research Labs' Mark Pauline". Artspace.
  15. ^ a b Stiles, Kristine; Selz, Peter (25 September 2012). Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of ArtistsÕ Writings (Second Edition, Revised and Expanded by Kristine Stiles). Univ of California Press. ISBN 9780520253742.
  16. ^ a b Benedetto, Stephen Di (January 13, 2011). The Provocation of the Senses in Contemporary Theatre. Routledge. ISBN 9781136974083 – via Google Books.
  17. ^ a b Kac, Eduardo (April 23, 2005). Telepresence & Bio Art: Networking Humans, Rabbits, & Robots. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472068105 – via Google Books.
  18. ^ a b King, Brad (August 9, 2001). "The Big Bang Theory of Art". Wired – via www.wired.com.
  19. ^ Petaluma. Survival Research Laboratories. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  20. ^ "A Visit to the Survival Research Laboratories Workshop". Rhizome. 28 September 2011.
  21. ^ "SRL - Chronological Shows and Events". www.srl.org.
  22. ^ "SRL - Survivial Research Laboratories Show Archive". www.srl.org.
  23. ^ a b Mead, Derek (February 1, 2012). "Apocalyptic Robo-Art Performers Survival Research Labs Have Been Banned in San Francisco".
  24. ^ Lucas, Adam (1995). "Mark Pauline – The Art Of War". 21-C Magazine.
  25. ^ V. Vale (ed), "Industrial Culture Handbook", Re/Search Publications, 1983, page 40.
  26. ^ a b c Kroker, Arthur; Kroker, Marilouise (11 December 2013). Critical Digital Studies: A Reader, Second Edition. ISBN 9781442666719.
  27. ^ "SiteWorks - A Cruel and Relentless Plot to Pervert the Flesh of Beasts to Unholy Uses". siteworks.exeter.ac.uk.
  28. ^ Dery, Mark (December 2007). Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century. ISBN 9780802196507.
  29. ^ "Survival research laboratories - Yahoo Image Search Results".
  30. ^ a b Holden, Stephen (17 May 1988). "Monster Robots Bash Paradise in Mock Battle". The New York Times.
  31. ^ "C: A Critical Visual Art Magazine". 1987.
  32. ^ a b "Exhibitions". New Museum Digital Archive.
  33. ^ a b c Stone, Brad (November 1, 2007). Gearheads: The Turbulent Rise of Robotic Sports. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781416587323 – via Google Books.
  34. ^ Pimsleur, J.L. (May 31, 1989). "Bomb Scare traced to Performance Art". San Francisco Chronicle.
  35. ^ "Survival Research Laboratories". wc.arizona.edu.
  36. ^ Sterling, Bruce (July 1, 1996). "Is Phoenix Burning". Wired – via www.wired.com.
  37. ^ "Appetite for Destruction". Texas Monthly. December 31, 1969.
  38. ^ "New Art Examiner". Chicago, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. New Art Associations. April 23, 1998 – via Google Books.
  39. ^ "The Arts in San Jose, CA | ZeroOne San Jose + ISEA2006". www.metroactive.com.
  40. ^ see e.g. Vale, "industrial Culture Handbook"
  41. ^ Ballet, Nicolas (29 January 2019). "Survival Research Laboratories: A Dystopian Industrial Performance Art". Arts. 8: 17. doi:10.3390/arts8010017.
  42. ^ "Tentacle Session #35: The Women of Survival Research Labs".
  43. ^ "Women in SRL".
  44. ^ "Java goes to the extreme". August 1998.
  45. ^ V. Vale (ed), "Industrial Culture Handbook", Re/Search Publications, 1983, page 40.
  46. ^ Herath, Damith; Kroos, Christian; Stelarc (4 May 2016). Robots and Art: Exploring an Unlikely Symbiosis. Springer. ISBN 9789811003219.
  47. ^ "Flame Hurricane". Survival Research Laboratories. 2001. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  48. ^ Flichy, Patrice (2007). The Internet Imaginaire. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262062619.
  49. ^ "Stu Walker (Guinea Pig Controlled Robot)". Survival Research Laboratories. 2010. Archived from the original on July 31, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  50. ^ Indrisek, Scott (January 8, 2018). "This Artist Builds High-Tech Robots—Then Has Them Attack Each Other". Artsy. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  51. ^ Moss, Ceci (January 21, 2017). "De-Manufactured Machines: A Profile of Survival Research Laboratories". SFAQ. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  52. ^ "How Mark Pauline critiques corporate power with an army of otherworldly machines".
  53. ^ "Survival Research Labs Gets Banned in San Francisco". January 31, 2012.
  54. ^ "PRANKS 2 Excerpt: Survival Research Laboratories". 19 July 2012.
  55. ^ Terdiman, Daniel. "Benefit Saturday for stricken Survival Research Labs crew member". CNET.
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