Rusty Squid

10/09/2021

Rusty Squid has closed down.

After 10 remarkable years of experimentation and research the Rusty Squid project has come to an end. The studio is no longer taking on large commissions and the Squids have dispersed. However Roseanne Wakely has inherited the studio through which she is currently developing her own artistic vision while continuing to explore the intersection between art, engineering and design. If you have any enquiries or are reaching out for collaborations or partnerships please do not hesitate to contact her at [email protected]

We're not sure where David has gone but you can still reach him at [email protected] however please be patient he is mostly offline and we suspect quite remote and we only get a response once in a blue moon.

It has been an incredible journey. Thank you for all your encouragement and support.
The Squids.

12/03/2020

Happy British Science Week UK

Our little Robot Art and Design lab in Bristol simply can’t get enough of Dr William Grey Walter: Neurologist, Engineer, Philosopher and Anarchist.

Walter Grey lived in Bristol but worked in London, the US and the Soviet Union, quite radical for his time.

He was a pioneer in the use of EEG machines, Neurology and Radar technology. He discovered the "CNV Effect" (the contingent negative variation effect) where neurons spike a second prior to a person being consciously aware of the movements they were about to make.

But we love him most of all for pioneering perhaps the first truly autonomous robots that could adapt and learn right here in Bristol, in the 1940’s. His ‘tortoises’, built with primitive electrical analogue neurons, led to new insights into the function of the nervous system and contributed greatly to today’s neurological medicine.

His work was almost completely lost to history as we made the shift from analogue to digital. But thanks to a number of robotic researchers thinking outside of our digital paradigm such as Rodney brooks and Owen Holland, Grey Walters legendary work has been brought back to life. Grey Walter is now widely recognised as a founding father of Cybernetics.

William Grey Walters work is a powerful reminder that Robotics is technology paradigm agnostic and can easily exist without todays digital technology. Rusty Squid takes this lesson to heart and we celebrate the analogue, situated, embodied and emergent nature of the Art of Robotics.

To see some of our Laboratories research check out:
https://youtu.be/AFolFqjvFXk

To join our community; visit our website and put your name down on our mailing list:

http://rustysquid.org.uk/

05/03/2020

The Art of Animatronics

For many years animatronics was a closely guarded secret. Very few books have ever been written on the subject and until recently it has been next to impossible to study. It was only after Stan Winston's death in 2008 that the work of these masters began to trickle out of the studios. Having almost been completely wiped out by CGI over the past few decades this art is returning to the film industry.

However, this unique craft is full of potential and remains untapped in the broader world of art, design and engineering.

Last weekend Rusty Squid's artistic director David McGoran lead a 2-day masterclass in The Art of Animatronics. We found it inspiring to share this craft with a wide selection of creative industries: live puppetry, performance, kinetic sculpture, robotics design and contemporary art. We can’t wait to see what mischief the participants come up with their new found knowledge in the coming month.

If you missed your chance to join us for this masterclass don't worry, we will be repeating The Art of Animatronics workshop later in the Spring. To get your name on the waiting list please email us at [email protected]

To join our community and hear about jobs, internships and other opportunities, visit our website and put your name down on our mailing list:

http://rusysquid.org.uk/

Photography by Fatma Ciftci

27/02/2020

"Puppetry is not simply an art form in its own right but a tool for exploring the mysteries of Emergence and Embodiment for engineers, designers and artists alike"
David McGoran

We had a fantastic 2 days last weekend with a fantastic group of professional across a wide spectrum of creative industries. Roboticists, Dancers, Puppet Engineers, Performance Artists, and Directors all came together to get their hands on Rusty Squid's Training Puppets and exercises.

If you missed your chance to work with us don't worry we will be repeating The Neutral Puppet workshop later in the Spring. To get your name on the waiting list please email us at [email protected]

To join our community and hear about jobs, internships and other opportunities, visit our website and put your name down on our mailing list:

http://rustysquid.org.uk/

Photography by Fatma Ciftci

20/02/2020

SOLD OUT!
Wow, demand for our Winter Squid Workshops has been crazy. Thank you all for your excitement and interest.

The Animatronics workshop is now sold out and the Neutral Puppet workshop is filling up fast.

BOOK: http://puppetplace.org/whats-on/
Remember that student discounts are available

But don’t worry if you missed your chance, we will be running the workshops again in a few weeks.

To get your name down on the waiting list, please mail Rusty Squid [email protected] and let us know what workshop you are interested in.

To find out when our future workshops are, get your name down on the Squid Mailing List on our website

http://rustysquid.org.uk/

13/02/2020

"Go to the way of the ant, thou sluggard: consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provident her meat in the summer, and gather her food in the harvest."
Proverbs 6:6-8

Without central control and very simple reflexes, a swarm of ants can "cooperate" to display immense competence. An intelligence emerges that is far greater then the sum of an individual ant's intelligence.

Perhaps, our understanding of our own "intelligence" is misguided.

What if our neurons are no more, or less, then a swarm of ants working together? And, what if a good analogy for our minds is a swarm of ants building a bridge?

How do we make sense of our notion of "self"?
And, how do we find meaning if this turns out to be so?

By Fusing Robotics, Science, Art, and Design Rusty Squid are researching new cultural languages and a new artistic medium to help our society navigate these new ways of understanding our nature.

06/02/2020

“Whether it’s Bunraku puppetry in Japan or traditional Balinese puppetry, there’s a universal principle: You start with the breath,” says McGoran.

Our creative director David Mcgoran was interviewed by Thomas McMullan for OneZero. Along with Rich Walker from The Shadow Robot Company, John Criswell from The Jim Henson Company and Elizabeth Jochums a robotics and performance researcher, David reminds us:

“Puppeteers have been around for thousands of years, and they’ve been field testing what works and what doesn’t in front of audiences all that time… they’ve developed systems, practices, notations, disciplines, and schools … and almost nobody in the robotics community is even remotely aware of them.”

Thomas has brought together a unique set of ideas and a diverse group of thinkers to craft one of those rare articles that will speak to engineers, performers and designers alike.

Enjoy!

Puppeteers have been effectively animating objects for thousands of years — and they have much to teach a soulless robotics industry

30/01/2020

Welcome, Fatma Ciftci Rusty Squid so honored to have you join the Squids. Your experience as an artist and arts manager in and throughout the middle east will bring a blast of fresh thinking and a new outlook on building our robotic art and design studio here in .

16/01/2020

You are kindly invited to join a 2 day 'The Art of Animatronics' led by Mcgoran from Rusty Squid.

Place: Puppet Place
Date: 29 February – 1st March 2020
Time: 9.30 – 17.30
BOOK NOW: https://bit.ly/370S352

16/01/2020

You are kindly invited to join a 2 day 'The Neutral Puppet' led by David Mcgoran from RustySquid.

Place: Puppet Place
Date: 22-23 February 2020
Time: 9.30 – 17.30
BOOK NOW: https://bit.ly/2QYQhvH

16/01/2020

You've just under two hours left to get this great deal of 10% OFF our professional 2 day workshop 'The Neutral Puppet' led by David McGoran at Rusty Squid.

Hurry as this deal ends at 10am this morning!

BOOK HERE: http://www.puppetplace.org/whatson/culture-flash-sale/