Lucy McRae’s new “Compression Carpet offers a full embrace for those who feel like they need a hug, a meditation on how technology can aid intimacy or support. The “body architect” recently showed the device at Festival of the Impossible in San Francisco. For some, the device may recall the hug machine created by Temple Grandin for stress relief and therapy. With her device, McCrae says, you “relinquish control to the hands of a stranger as your ‘servicer’ decides the firmness of your hug.”
The festival says that McRae “explores and responds to the concept of a touch-crisis world that has triggered a lonely disconnection with ourselves.” Other projects by the artist include a Biometric Mirror anda Compression Cradle, seen below. Her practice spans installation art, photography, film, AI, edible technology, and more.
Find more on her site.
Gilles Cenazandotti is a French artist known for his arresting sculptures of animals constructed entirely of litter he collects from the ocean. Petroleum products, bottle caps, tubes of sunscreen, and other plastic refuse are gathered from the sea and transformed into a variety of species, many endangered. Through his art, Cenazandotti hopes to bring greater awareness to the condition of our planet and the number of species threatened by human activity and pollution.
Combining his own creativity and digital techniques, Dutch artist