Arcade Fire's Wilderness Machine: Too sensitive for this world? [Updated]
On Friday night at the second of two sold-out shows that Arcade Fire played at the Shrine Auditorium, a group of anxious journalists and bloggers stood around a primitive-looking contraption called the Wilderness Machine. Beside them in the Shrine's lobby was the machine's creator, director Chris Milk of Radical Media, appearing a little nervous.
The Wilderness Machine is an art piece and serves as the physical sequel to the digital masterwork that is Milk's interactive Arcade Fire video, called "The Wilderness Downtown." Friday night was to mark the official unveiling of the machine to the world. Only the machine wasn't working.
A group of tech guys from World Power Systems, which helped build it, buzzed around its 1,000-pound Plexiglas shell. Despite their efforts, it remained motionless, a sullen relic seemingly plucked from Thomas Edison's basement.
"Two days ago, its claw arm attacked its suction arm," said Milk, adjusting his thick, black-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose. "When that happened, it destroyed a servo motor. Although I personally think it was an attempt at robot suicide."
[Update, 11:47 a.m.: A previous version of this post referred to the "servo motor" as a "server modem."]