Review and commentary 3: BachTrack

“The immediate personification of the machine itself was both the most unexpected and most natural development; with a simply tilt of the machine’s 'head' – the lit rectangle at the end of the appendage – there was instant seeming emotion emanating from a completely automatic contraption. As the machine took apart the raised stage piecemeal, always attempting to catch the two men off guard, a pleasing relationship of man versus machine developed. Almost unbelievably, the machine was making clear its yearning to be the unequivocal star of the piece.”

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“… it quickly became clear that the apparatus had a mind of its own – it shifted the segmented platform, which forced the performers to constantly re-evaluate their ideas of what was firm ground to stand upon. … the platform became increasingly redefined – the machine removed and repositioned its segmented planks and cubes without a hint of strain or indecision.”

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[Comments from RBK:
In looking at questions surrounding what constitutes signifiers, signs, and signifieds, it is always interesting to observe the factor of what the reader of these signifiers tends to read, regardless of the intended meaning of the signifier or its producer. People find faces in things. And we so easily ascribe sentience also; note the reviewer saying that the robot showed no indecision; only when we have ascribed to a thing the ability to make decisions can we be surprised when it has no difficulty in making them.]

— Rachel Rizzuto, writing on BachTrack.com November 12, 2012