Gord Schmidt: The artist statement says that you are a conduit for one soul, where does this channel from? Tamara Stone: | don't know.... G.S. Next question, what are animatronics? | , went to the library for some information and the librarian asked if it was a real word. ~ T.S. Animatronics is generally something to do with robotics that has a pseudo living appearance, it's an area of robotics that is attempting to emulate life. Any of the critters that people make that walk on six legs, the spider like things, those are animatronics. G.S. It must be very refreshing to work with your hands again. T.S. It is, it's been very nice. Well, and to be working on my own thing with my own ideas. G.S. In your artist’s statement you say, “I am an agi- tated technician, bent on extracting the essence of some billion neurons firing.” That kind of struck me. TS. It's difficult to express what you are thinking or to capture exactly what it is you are trying to say, and figure out how it is you want to convey it to someone else. Because the whole premises is that everyone Tamara Stone: Conduit From the Unknown Whereas machinery is more robotic. Those seem to be the definitions, it's pretty hazy because a lot of it is so new. People are still forging their way through things. | thought animatronics best described what | was doing, because every time | said that they where interactive installations someone would say what's that? G.S. Amusement parks with dark rides like the Pirates of the Caribbean have been using animatronics for years. T.S. Yeah, but as far as art goes, entertainment parks do their own whole thing. G.S So it's never been considered as fine art before? T.S. Well the applications are still new in fine arts, | know people from OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design) who have been teaching interactive fine art for 15 or 20 years, but not necessarily animatronics. There's a lot of animatronic work in film such as pup- pets and critters. G.S. You work in film as well. TS. 4-do. G.S. You did the Stargate water wall. TS: Ya: G.S. Did you design that? T.S. Yes, | was working at GVFX in Toronto, and at the beginning of the Stargate SG1 series they wanted something similar to the one in the film. What | do in film is compositing. | take the image of an explosion and then the image of a building where there isn’t an explosion, because they couldn't afford to blow up a real building, and I'll stick them together so it looks like the building is exploding. G.S. So that's a film overlap? T.S. Well that's basically what it is, but its digital, I'm working on the computer. @ = takes different things from an experience because they all come from different backgrounds, so the build up of experiences from their past is what leads them to experience whatever it is that your trying to show them in the present. So trying to make something that will say what I'm thinking, and embody the experience that I'm trying to convey, to a broad range of people coming from different environments, is a real chal- lenge. I'm eager to get that right, it’s a real process of... [telephone rings] G.S. Do you wanna get that? ES. guess. = Tamara Stone answers the phone; and as she talks | sit and look at my surroundings. Her top floor live-in workspace is full of electric motors, wires and shells of creatures; the space is full but not cluttered. Tamara’s apartment is obviously being more worked in than lived in at this moment, she hangs up the phone. G.S. | think you were talking about the artist statement. T.S. The idea is “extracting the essence of some @ billion neurons firing” is getting right to the bot- * tom of what you are thinking. The mechanical ~ creatures are like a shell, and your depositing in them the soul of what you are trying to say and it ' shines within them. G.S. Like the velveteen rabbit. T.S. Exactly. G.S. Were you able to incorporate audio into the A Child's Garden of Worms exhibit? = T.S. In most of the pieces in fact, the brain girl is an audio animatronic. aes Gord Schmidt: The artist statement says that you are a conduit for one soul, where does this channel from? Tamara Stone: | don't know.... G.S. Next question, what are animatronics? | went to the library for some information and the librarian asked if it was a real word. TS. Animatronics is generally something to do with robotics that has a pseudo living appearance, it's an area of robotics that is attempting to emulate life. Any of the critters that people make that walk on six legs, the spider like things, those are animatronics. GS. It must be very refreshing to work with your hands again. TS. It is, it's been very nice. Well, and to be working on my own thing with my own ideas. GS. In your artist's statement you say, “I am an agi- tated technician, bent on extracting the essence of some billion neurons firing.” That kind of struck me. TS. It's difficult to express what you are thinking or to capture exactly what it is you are trying to say, and figure out how it is you want to convey it to someone else. Because the whole premises is that everyone Tamara Stone: Conduit From the Unknown Whereas machinery is more robotic. Those seem to be the definitions, it’s pretty hazy because a lot of it is so new. People are still forging their way through things. | thought animatronics best described what | was doing, because every time | said that they where interactive installations someone would say what's that? G.S. Amusement parks with dark rides like the Pirates of the Caribbean have been using animatronics for years. TS. Yeah, but as far as art goes, entertainment parks do their own whole thing. G.S So it's never been considered as fine art before? TS. Well the applications are still new in fine arts, | know people from OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design) who have been teaching interactive fine art for 15 or 20 years, but not necessarily animatronics. There's a lot of animatronic work in film such as pup- pets and critters. G.S. You work in film as well. TS. | do. G.S. You did the Stargate water wall. TS. Ya. GS. Did you design that? TS. Yes, | was working at GVFX in Toronto, and at the beginning of the Stargate SG1 series they wanted something similar to the one in the film. What | do in film is compositing. | take the image of an explosion and then the image of a building where there isn’t an explosion, because they couldn't afford to blow up a real building, and I'll stick them together so it looks like the building is exploding. GS. So that's a film overlap? TS. Well that's basically what it is, but its digital, I'm working on the computer. en" takes different things from an experience because they all come from different backgrounds, so the build up of experiences from their past is what leads them to experience whatever it is that your trying to show them in the present. So trying to make something that will say what I'm thinking, and embody the experience that I'm trying to convey, to a broad range of people coming from different environments, is a real chal- lenge. I'm eager to get that right, it's a real process of... [telephone rings] GS. Do you wanna get that? TS. | guess. Tamara Stone answers the phone, and as she talks | sit and look at my surroundings. Her top floor live-in workspace is full of electric motors, wires and shells of creatures; the space is full but not cluttered. Tamara’s apartment is obviously being more worked in than lived in at this moment, she hangs up the phone. GS. | think you were talking about the artist statement. The idea is “extracting the essence of some billion neurons firing” is getting right to the bot- 2 tom of what you are thinking. The mechanical = creatures are like a shell, and your depositing in them the soul of what you are trying to say and it shines within them. GS. Like the velveteen rabbit. TS. Exactly. G.S. Were you able to incorporate audio into the A Child's Garden of Worms exhibit? TS. In most of the pieces in fact, the brain girl is an audio animatronic.