BEAST: sketch and write and test

I would like if I could make my machine make itself disappear in a white cloud.





As I have earlier described in the Vivisection brief, the MachinaKafe is built from materials and operates on mechanical principles refined in 19th century manufacturing processes. In this sense, the MachinaKafe is a summary of all machines of the 19th century; in their design, fashioning and operation, machines replicated the divine act and accordingly succeeded the place of the divine figure in cultural history to this day. The consequences of such a massive cultural shift are numerous and take off in many different directions and criticism. When I began this Vivisection project, I read Paul Virilio's The Art of the Motor, and then felt sorry for myself a few days after....just kidding, but in some small measure I couldn't help but be affected by his despair over civilization unconscious submission to the sublimity of omniscient machine world around us (and now, in the 21st century, growing in us too). Machines are not just all around us, but they are idealizations of ourselves, our bodies, and our aspirations.

The Machine as Divine being, or C O F F E E___E X - M A C H I N A

If the machine is God, then how does God make himself know to us? Through his divine acts.
The MachinaKafe is shrouded in a white cloud, brought out from within to veil from us the nature of the apparition's source. The cloud essentially changes the question we ask the machine: what are you? to what do I compare you to from all the other machines around me? The cloud elevates and sanctifies the machine.

"I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the most High."
-Isaiah 14:14, King James Bible

The sketch above is a quick doodle of how I might install y machine. I would like the whole apparatus to be suspended, preferably over a bowl of water or any other body of water (it could be natural), and a series of new and delicate copper steam wands, branches springing from the original and singular tube twirl about the divine water tank. From their mouths, white steam pours out and clouds the entire construct.





I did a few tests today of what a white cloud coming out of the steam wand might look like (this puppy can fill the basement corridor with fog no problemo!)...and I am quickly learning that "making the cloud" will go through many-a-trial-and-error processes. One thing for sure is that I will probably want to install my machine in the outdoors as the cold air produces a better effect, and makes less mess in the studio (pardon the slippery floor around the front door to the Studio). Since I made the sketch above, I had the idea of installing my machine in the School courtyard. I think the peaceful enclosure would enhance the experience of encountering the "cloud".