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Sculptor and installation artist Ethan Ham worked in collaboration with electronics and robotics designer Tony Muilenburg to create a mechanism that physically builds biodegradable foam sculptures that are manipulated only by actual e-mails that anyone on the internet can send. Supposedly, any person can log onto any working internet connection, compose a completely random e-mail addressed to eroder@emailerosion.org, and press send. On the receiving end of the e-mail is a mechanism that reads the content of your e-mail and accordingly decides what action it will take to change or build upon the foam sculpture using basic rotations triggerings of spray bottle that squirts water to dissolve certain parts of foam. Perhaps the most interesting part of this piece is that, after you send this e-mail, you can watch the sculptural manipulation take place on a webcam that is broadcasted through the Email Erosion website. And apparently, you will also recieve an e-mail reply containing a webcam snapshot of the exact moment that you actually commanded the robot to perform its action.
This piece initially stood out to me because it is purely based on interaction. Since I am relatively unfamiliar with much of the "new media" that is emerging, or even most kinds of digital art, I often feel at a distance from understanding or feeling intruiged by images and works that appear on my computer screen. My computer has always been more of a technical operator that grants me access to essential ways of communication (e-mail, Facebook, etc.). When I think of creating art, I look immediately to what lies visually and spatially in the world around me, which is why I am particularly drawn to photography. Until now, I have not incorporated much of my work and others' physically tangible pieces into the digital world for manipulation and conceptual development.
This e-mail erosion concept for a sculptural piece is incredibly interesting because of it's incorporation of an everyday method of communication with a changable, interactive sculpture that is both virtual and physically tangible. I think especially the ramifications of this work rings clear through what it seeks to investigate about the extent of internet communications in relation to making art. It also attempts to break down a normally very distinct barrier between the viewer and the artist that is prevalent in many other media even outside of digital art. The fact that this piece is based on such an interaction between the artist and the viewer, combined with its utilization of e-mail communication (something that I certainly undermine!), is what draws me to Ethan Ham's work on the E-mail Eroder.
And, of course, I did open up my gmail account and type up an incredibly random e-mail addressed and set-up to send to eroder@emailerosion.org, as I thought about what actions I would witness from the robotic mechanism. Keeping in mind that the mechanism was supposed to react differently based on the content of the e-mail, I think I typed something along the lines of, "What is this? The concept of this work both baffles and amazes me."
aaaaaaand SEND!
....I switch back to watching the webcam on their website.
... I wait a couple minutes, expecting to see some sort of abrupt and altering movement by the long metal arm that extended out from the machine towards the sculpture.
But nothing ever happened! I didn't even get a reply e-mail from them. :( What a disappointment, right?
I still think the concept is cool. And I'm assuming that since this piece was featured in something like 2006 that it worked at some point. Oh well!
http://www.ethanham.com
http://www.ethanham.com
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