ITP Alumni and Faculty Exhibit Robot Installation in France

By Richard Pierce

A mother and her son, above, get close to one of the “nicebots,” which can roam around, climb on the facades of buildings, talk, and interact with museum visitors. Below, a nicebot travels down a hallway at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nice.

This fall, three recent alumni and one faculty member from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at the Tisch School of the Arts traveled to the French Riviera for the installation of their work at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nice. The project is the first step in what could be an ambitious cultural and educational exchange program between the Tisch School and the City of Nice.

“Nicebots,” an urban installation of 50 robots (bots) created by ITP faculty member Jean-Marc Gauthier and ITP alumni Mark Argo, Daniel Hirschmann, and Ann Poochareon, was commissioned by the City of Nice and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The interactive installation takes place both inside the museum galleries and outside in an open air courtyard. The bots, each the size of a cigar box, can roam around, play music, climb on the facades of the buildings, fly, talk, display messages, and interact with museum visitors.

“We are used to robots being a part of our life—we find them in cars, computers, ATM machines and even air conditioners,” said Gauthier. “We relate to them passively, but we rarely play with them or have feelings for them. The bots we created are fugitives from this bot assembly line. They are artistic bots inviting you to discover and create a new kind of relationship with robots.

“The installation creates an imaginary world where robots and humans coexist on the same level. The bots are showcased in their ‘home life’ away from the daily grind they were first intended for,” Gauthier continued. “The show was a huge success with kids and adults alike at the museum, and we are now discussing the possibility of having a similar event every year.”

Bernard Morel, head of tourism for the City of Nice, first had the idea to begin a relationship after seeing a French television documentary about NYU and the Tisch School. Morel, the former head of Air France in the U.S., then visited the school last year and met with several faculty members, including Arnie Baskin, as well as administrators. He is currently working with the Tisch Special Programs Office to start a summer course on experimental video and 3-D animation at Nice’s Villa Arson for 2005.

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