Running Machine

Busy busy busy. From the simple act of walking to strenuous physical labour, audience and artists gather to build… something… in this dynamic collaboration between Australian and Japanese artists.

The human body is the raw material from which immersive digital spaces are formed, as performers build and rebuild physical and projected sculptures. Bringing a digital body into existence is a kind of birth we’ve yet to fully understand: what is digital labour, and who’s labour is it?

Originally developed in Fujiyoshida, Japan, Running Machine was presented as as 360 degree video experience and a live iteration.

Australian artists Yuiko Masukawa, Harrison Hall and Sam Mcgilp have collaborated with Japanese artists Kazuhiko Hiwa and Makoto Uemura across languages and borders, to create a multi-modal work arising from their expertise across performance, design, sculpture and media art. Originally developed in Fujiyoshida, Japan, Running Machine invites us to be active in designing the future of our own experience – a celebration of a hybrid world that could be more equal than the one in which we currently reside.

Running Machine was presented as part of BLEED – a biennial live event in the everyday digital – featuring contemporary arts commissions across multiple IRL and digital platforms. BLEED ran online and in person from Monday 29 August to Sunday 25 September. Explore the Running Machine 360 video experience here.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body; the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria; the City of Melbourne through Arts House; and by Dancehouse through their On Residence program with a residency at Garambi Baan.