juke_bots

The robot as DJ and record player
2001

jukebots (2001)

In the “juke_bots” installation, two industrial robots act as a DJ. The robotic arms are surrounded by records that they can freely select and grab. In front of each arm is a record player. Without putting the records down, the machines thread them under the needle of the record player. jukebots (2001) The freely rotating robotic hand allows the machine to play, scratch, distort, speed up, slow down and fragment the music and in this way produce new sounds typical of the robot DJ.

The music preserved on the disks serves as a source of sound samples. These fragments are taken completely out of their musical context, rearranged by the overriding rhythm of the rotational movements and sometimes alienated to such an extent that the record becomes mere material and a means from which the sounds are now created independently. By alternately putting back and selecting again during a session, the robotic arms can create ever new compositions from 22 records and various scratch modes.

Despite their high mechanical precision, the “juke_bots” always have an unpredictable momentum of their own in movement and sound.The actual producers of the music here remain the robots.“juke_bots” spans an arc from industrialization and its consequence of a clocking of the social reality of life to the DJ mass cult of the late 20th century, in whose techno sounds the entire process culminates.

Record selection HfG performance 2001: DJ Acid Maria alias Angelika Lepper
Record selection New Fair performance 2003: DJ kri alias Markus Kritzokat

“juke_bots” 2004 at ZKMax-Galery in Munich (DE).
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The “juke_bots” 2001 at the inauguration of the HfG — University of Arts and Design Karlsruhe (DE).
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“juke_bots” 2001 on Sonar Festival Barcelona (ES).
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“juke_bots” at transmediale.02 in Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin (DE).
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Poster for the presentation of “juke_bots” 2002 at ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (DE).
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“juke_bots” 2002 on Elektra Festival Montreal (CA).
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Elektra Festival performance with DJ A-Track on 16/11/2002 at Usine C.
jukebots (2001)
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“juke_bots” 2003 during the inauguration of the New Fairground Karlsruhe (DE).
jukebots (2001)
“juke_bots” 2004 at ZKMax-Galery in Munich (DE).
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“juke_bots” 2005 in der Medienkunstausstellung „green“ beim time warp-Festival Mannheim (DE).
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“juke_bots” 2005 on Wired Nextfest Chicago (US).
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“juke_bots” 2007 at phaenomenale Science & Art Festival in Wolfsburg (DE).
jukebots (2001)