Living Distance
Contributors | Xin Liu, Gershon Dublon, Ross McBee, Noah Feehan, Amy Lemaire
Living Distance is a mission and a fantasy realized, in which a wisdom tooth is sent to outer space and back down to Earth again. Carried by a crystalline robotic device called EBIFA, the tooth tells the inconsequential but unique story of a person in this universe. EBIFA’s form and function follow an unusually personal approach to our technological space futures, one centered on visceral, active, empathic, and poetic engagement.
Once entering apogee, the EBIFA device is designed to be released and demonstrate a new mechanism for navigating in three-dimensional space. By shooting the string out and dragging the body once the tethered projectile is attached to a remote, anchored surface, the mechanism enables spatial navigation with minimal impetus in the zero gravity environment. The performance resembles a previous performance of the artist herself in parabolic flight (Orbit Weaver). This experiment will be the first spider-like, robotic dance in weightlessness.
In this journey, the tooth becomes a newborn entity in space, with its crystalline sculptural body and life supported by an electromechanical system. Each of its weightless movements is carefully calculated on paper and modelled in simulation software, as there can never be a true test on Earth.
Along with five other SEI research payloads, this experiment was launched on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket in 2019, crossing the Karman line for three minutes of sustained microgravity.
Credit: Tim Saputo, Xin Liu
Credit: Tim Saputo, Xin Liu
News & Publications
The Media Lab at Sundance 2020 (MIT Media Lab)
New Frontier Exhibitions: Living Distance (Sundance Institute)
The Artist-Engineer in VR (Immerse)
Six suborbital research payloads from MIT fly to space and back (MIT News)