Biography

Simon Penny is an Australian artist, theorist, theacher and curator in the field of electronic and interactive Media Art. His art practice consists of interactive and robotic installations, which have been exhibited in the US, Australia and Europe. His most recent project is the Autonomous Robotic Artwork "Petit Mal". He is Associate Professor of Art and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University where, among other things, he teaches Robotic Art Studio. During his 6 years in the USA he has established the Electronic Intermedia Program at the University of Florida; curated Machine Culture (at SIGGRAPH 93 in Anaheim, CA), and has edited the anthology "Critical Issues in Electronic Media" (SUNY Press 1995).

Quotes

Simon Penny
Artistic Practice, Body Knowledge and the Engineering World View.

"I will argue that "mind" does not exist. What do I mean by this absurd proposition? I mean that mind is a linguistic construction, a concept. The problem for us is not the existence of the concept per se, but that the concept "mind" has become reified, the assuption of the existence of something called a mind has led to the building of an entire conceptual and linguistic edifice. Hence, to argue for the non-existence of mind is an elusive task, not because mind does exist, but because of the mind-body split is fully installed in our language. We struggle when there are no words, when the words that exist undermine the goal of the task at hand. (...) I will not argue that we privilege "mind" too much, nor that we ought to privilege "body". This would be to perpetuate a dualistic model. I want to argue against dualism. (...) Why is it that we believe that consciousness is located exclusively in the brain? (...) I want in all seriousness to argue that I "think/know" with my arms and with my stomach. (...) The mind/body split concept is a key component of the enlightenment world view and structures the way we think about ourselves and the world. Computer discourse is a direct descendant of that world view, made more extreme by the pragmatism of engineering. The reification of the mind/body split within computer systems and computer discourse has lent the idea new force. But contemporary thinking in many fields is bringing many basic premises of computer science into question. A concerted effort is now necessary to denaturalize the mind/body split and to re-learn that subjectivity is not subject to reductive analysis. Subjecthood is anchored in the body. What we call ‘the mind’ permeates the body and is not located in any organ. To believe otherwise is to deny traditional intelligences of the arts."