Re:SENSTER Reactivation of a large scale cybernetic sculpture created by Edward Ihnatowicz

RE: SENSTER

We present SENSTER, a cybernetic sculpture by Edward Ihnatowicz. This piece is one of the classics of the media art. It was created in 1968 and for years was considered lost. In 2017 members of the RE: SENSTER team discovered the remnants of the original and brought them to AGH in Krakow, where work began on the reactivation of the sculpture.

We invite you to the industrial hall WO, on Reyomont 23 s.19 in Krakow, on Thursday 4th October at 5pm. You can see the sculpture in Krakow until the end of October.

ABOUT THE PIECE

SENSTER was a zooid. Its openwork frame resembles an unidentified animal. Edward Ihnatowicz set out to create a sculpture that would move by reacting to the presence of people in its surroundings. He decided that this fluid, organic motion would contrast with the massing and scale of the piece. That’s how the piece grew to over 5 meters. Its massive, steel skeleton moved with great agility thanks to the work of six synchronised hydraulic cylinders. A computer program controlled the changes in movement. In creating SENSTER Ihnatowicz enriched the formula of kinetic sculpture with the achievements of contemporary robotics. He drew on experiments from the field of artificial intelligence.

SENSTER was the third media art piece created under the patronage of Phillips, the Dutch technological company. It was part of the series which began with CYSP 1 by Nicolaas Schöffer (1956) and „Poème électronique” by Le Corbusier, Iannisa Xenakisa i Edgarda Varèse (1958).

Anna Olszewska, Curator SENSTER
http://senster.agh.edu.pl