Biting Machine 1 2008

Biting Machine 1

First member of the Biting Machines family, the Biting Machine 1 is an electric vehicle fitted with sharp metal teeth that clatter when the machine moves.

The long term Biting Machine Project aims to build a feral robotic animal for a performance inspired by Joseph Beuys' I like America and America Likes Me (1974), where the artist lived for 7 days with a live coyote in a gallery in New York City. The final Biting Machine aims to be a technological approximation of the coyote.

Joseph Beuys, I Like America and America Likes Me. Photo by Caroline Tisdall.

The software for Biting Machine 1 was developed in collaboration with Kanta Horio, who also provided the giant spring used by the machine as a tail.

Left video shot by Kanta.