Jim Pallas received his B.F.A. in 1963 and his M.F.A. in 1965 from Wayne State University, Detroit. He has been Professor of Art at Macomb Community College since 1965 and has been Coordinator for Visual Arts and Museums for the Michigan State Council for the Arts. Many exhibitions, e.g. Computers and Art, Everson Museum, Syracuse, N.Y. 1987, traveling to the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati and the IBM Gallery of Science and Art in Manhattan 1988. Among others, he received the Creative Artists Grant from the Michigan Council for the Arts, 1989. Articles about his works have been published in many magazines throughout the USA.

The 'Nose Wazoo' is a five foot tall electronic creature who responds to the environment. The sculpture consists of three parts: the tripod base which holds the compressor and electronics, the vertical gimbal which pivots on the base and whose arms support the third part, the torso and head which contain two pneumatic cylinders for nose thrusts and neck flexes, airtank and sensory apparatus.

Technical Background

With a EPROM chip installed, the 'Nose Wazoo' seeks to encourage visitor interaction. He becomes active and displays various combinations of movements when the body heat of an approaching visitor triggers his infrared motion detector. When he detects a crowd (several visitors within a short time), he changes behavior from display type movements to trying to nudge visitors with his cushioned nose as they move in front of him. He is surprisingly sensitive to changes of light levels as seen by his left and right eyes. In the Frankenstein myth, man creates a separate entity that destroys him. I'm more interested in the experience of Pygmalion who made a statue so beautiful that he fell in love with it. The gods gave it life, some say as his reward, others say out of pity.

HW: Slim II
SW: Custom