LSC Artist-in-Residence Chico MacMurtrie

Liberty Science Center is proud to welcome Chico MacMurtrie, our first artist-in-residence!

MacMurtrie is a creative, innovative robotics expert. LSC guests will be able to see work from his series Border Crossers in progress as MacMurtrie and his team construct a piece in Governors Hall.

The lightweight robotic sculptures are made of strong fabric tubes controlled by a robotics system that triggers them to inflate. As these unique robots “grow” before your eyes, they form high arcs and connect into bridge-like structures. To MacMurtrie, this project “envisions technology as a positive tool to establish dialogues beyond borders…”

Founder of Amorphic Robot Works, MacMurtrie has been making robots for over three decades, starting with metallic steampunk humanoids that captured human gestures and now his inflatable tentacled robots that can expand up to 100 feet. In 1991, MacMurtrie formed the Amorphic Robot Works. He works and sometimes lives in a deconsecrated Norwegian church in Brooklyn where all his robots periodically put on elaborate performances for guests.

Through March 2020, you can check out MacMurtrie's work for yourself on your visit to LSC. Don’t miss it!