{"id":10186,"date":"2025-08-19T21:21:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T21:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/10186\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T21:21:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T21:21:12","slug":"and-his-kinetic-sculptures-and-robotics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/10186\/","title":{"rendered":"and his kinetic sculptures and robotics"},"content":{"rendered":"

::vtol:: constructs kinetic sculptures, robotics and installations<\/b><\/p>\n

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Dmitry Morozov, known as ::vtol::, develops technology<\/b><\/a>-based installations and kinetic sculptures that combine robotics<\/b><\/a>, sounds<\/b><\/a>, coding, and interactive<\/b><\/a> systems. The Moscow-born, Ljubljana-based transdisciplinary artist and researcher centers his practice on electronic installations that react and respond to environmental changes and the proximity of the viewers. They include robotic systems, sound generators, and mechanical devices that operate independently once activated. ::vtol:: presented three of his recent projects at S\u00f3nar+D<\/b><\/a> between June 12th and 14th, 2025, during which designboom also hosted a live talk with the artist.<\/p>\n

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In a recent <\/b>interview<\/b><\/a>, the artist, who\u2019s the mastermind behind the tattoo-based instrument Reading My Body<\/b><\/a> and wearable<\/b><\/a> mask organ Last Breath<\/b><\/a>, shares with us that when he creates works, he\u2019s creating a form of entities with agencies rather than just tools. \u2018Ultimately, I perceive my works as participants in a gigantic performance called technological art. This kind of art is very ephemeral, as the lifespan of any object is quite limited\u2014either the electronics will break down, the software will be updated, or the mechanics will fail,\u2019 he tells us.<\/b><\/p>\n

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view of \u2018resistor\u2019 | all images courtesy of Dmitry Morozov, known as ::vtol::<\/p>\n

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microcontrollers process sensors and control mechanics<\/b><\/p>\n

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::vtol:: constructs his kinetic sculptures, robotics, sounds, and code-driven installations using electronic components, sensors, motors, and custom programming code, and each work includes microcontrollers that process sensor data and control mechanical movements. The systems respond to sound, motion, light, or other environmental inputs, allowing these machines to exhibit unpredictable behaviors that seem to react to the user\u2019s mood and handling methods. The artist<\/b><\/a> applies sculptural methods to electronic construction, too. Instead of following engineering protocols, he treats circuit boards, sensors, and actuators as sculptural materials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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This approach of ::vtol:: produces kinetic sculptures, robotics, and installations that have personality traits with their operational patterns. Sound generation systems are often a recurring theme in his practice, where mechanical components create acoustic outputs through vibration, striking, or air movement. Electronic circuits process these sounds and feed them back into the mechanical systems, creating feedback loops. The works operate as autonomous performers, and sensors detect audience presence and environmental changes. The systems modify their behavior based on this input data, so different audience interactions produce varying mechanical responses.<\/p>\n

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view of \u2018edge\u2019, a kinetic, sound and light object<\/p>\n

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Technology-based artworks that demonstrate lifelike behaviors<\/b><\/p>\n

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::vtol:: shares with designboom<\/b> that while he creates what may be considered as a \u2018set of electronic components and code\u2019, he always puts his soul into these kinetic sculptures, robotics, and installations. After all, he\u2019s partly a sculptor, and not an engineer, as he describes himself. \u2018I grew up in the 80s and 90s when half of all devices were still analog. These devices behaved so unpredictably that it seemed to depend even on your mood transmitted in the field around the object. I believe this quality has also transferred to many of my works. Since childhood, I have been accustomed to perceiving devices not just as soulless objects, but as living beings,\u2019\u2019 he explains to us.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s worth noting that he\u2019s not inclined towards esotericism, but the artist admits that there is certainly more for people to discover about how living and non-living objects interact on different levels. As a result, the kinetic sculptures, robotics, and installations of ::vtol:: explore relationships between living beings and technological systems, and he investigates how people interact with machines that demonstrate lifelike behaviors. The installations then respond to human presence in ways that suggest awareness or intention. Below, we continue our conversation with the transdisciplinary artist and researcher, who tells us the beginning of his artistic journey, his creative process, the backstories of the projects he presented at S\u00f3nar+D in Barcelona, and the ways he sees the ever-evolving climate of contemporary digital art.<\/p>\n

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view of \u2018phase adventures,\u2019 a series of four kinetic sound objects-etudes<\/p>\n

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Interview with Dmitry Morozov, known as ::vtol::<\/b><\/p>\n

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Designboom (DB): Your practice spans kinetic sculpture, robotics, sound, and code-driven installations. Can you walk us through your trajectory as a transdisciplinary artist and researcher? What were some of the pivotal moments or turning points that shaped your current approach?<\/b><\/p>\n

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Dmitry Morozov \/ ::vtol:: :<\/b> I started my journey as an artist completely unaware that I was one. I understand that this sounds unusual or even strange, but I truly became a media artist before I even realized it myself. Initially, I became very fascinated with electronic experimental music: formless, strange, and endlessly testing new ways of extracting and creating timbres. This led me into the world of electronics as a DIY practice: circuit-bending, DIY synthesizers, and so on. I began building my own synthesizers and strange controllers for creating and manipulating sound around 2006-2007. At that time, I didn\u2019t yet understand that there was a vast scene where interactive art, multimedia, music, and sound art intersected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The format of installations, sculptures, or performances didn\u2019t interest me much back then, although many of my early objects were in some way related to them. Everything changed when a few of my more knowledgeable friends in this practice told me that with my skills, I could easily fit into much more prestigious events like exhibitions and contemporary art festivals, unlike the underground noise concerts I was used to. All it took was to make my \u2018instruments\u2019 larger and more friendly for audience interaction. I tried it, and I really enjoyed the audience\u2019s reaction; seeing viewers interact with your work is incredibly energizing.<\/p>\n

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\u2018\u0442\u043e\u043f\u043e\u0442-\u043c\u2019 explores the concept of an extended body<\/p>\n

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::vtol:: (continues):<\/b> By that time, I had already created many instruments for other musicians, such as Aphex Twin, but usually, my instruments ended up in studios and collections, and you rarely receive feedback or get to observe how they are used. With interactive art, everything is quite different; essentially, you witness the act of interaction or observation, which is the artwork itself. It emerges at that moment, not when you finish creating the mechanism. At first, my works only included sound, but very quickly the media expanded \u2013 light was added, movement, more complex interactivity; the works became more conceptually thought out, addressing various complex themes \u2013 sometimes social, sometimes very abstract or historical (for example, media-archaeological).\u00a0<\/p>\n

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In fact, when you master one technical language as your tool \u2013 like electronics or programming \u2013 other \u2018mediums\u2019 become clearer and easier to learn quickly. The main thing is to understand the logic of data and signals and how they can interact with each other if needed. This rapidly and easily expands your expressive range. Thus, I quickly shifted to kinetic and robotic works, and since programming is necessary for their operation, you begin to see the potential in works that primarily consist of code, regularly venturing into that territory (for example, my project Hotspot poet). I believe that the combination of different media can greatly support each other when revealing a particular concept, especially if it is embodied in a design and visually appealing object.<\/p>\n

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\u2018you, me and all these machines\u2019 is a performance for voice and electronic devices<\/p>\n

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DB: Your projects often carry a strong DIY ethic, open-source tools, hacked hardware, self-built systems. How do science, tinkering, and the ethos of experimentation inform your creative process? What role does risk or failure play in how you develop new work?<\/b><\/p>\n

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::vtol:: :<\/b> DIY is the most important ideology in my work. I believe that an artist should do as much as possible by themselves and use as little ready-made material or outsourcing as possible. Of course, this approach can lead to absurdity, and one might even start making electronic components themselves (like my project Resistor) or wires, but I am endless in this pursuit, and whatever happens, happens. Essentially, the more that is done exclusively by you in your work, the more it reflects you, although this is not so simple in technological art. This leads to many mistakes \u2013 some of them are fatal for the project, while others open new horizons, often turning the meaning of the work 180 degrees. By introducing something into it that is beyond your control, you simply allow it to exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Overall, I subscribe to the concept that ideas don\u2019t belong to their authors; we are just lucky to snatch them from the flow of something and, given the right circumstances, embody them in a piece of art. Therefore, I am always happy to share both ideas and technical components of projects; this even affects their appearance. I rarely hide elements in a case; it is usually immediately clear how everything is made. In the last 5 \u2013 6 years, I have also actively taken up teaching, which is very energizing. You systematize and structure your knowledge to share it more successfully, and this, in turn, inspires new ideas. It\u2019s really cool to see how your students pick this up; you show them some technique that has become clich\u00e9d for you, and they suddenly apply it in a very unconventional way.<\/p>\n

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\u2018drop\u2019 is a small automatic device consisting of a Geiger counter<\/p>\n

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DB: A few years back we published two of your projects, Reading My Body and Last Breath, on designboom. Can you take us inside the making of those pieces? What were the conceptual or technical challenges, and how did they evolve during the process?<\/b><\/p>\n

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::vtol:: :<\/b> Reading My Body was initially inspired by some silly sci-fi movie where people had barcode tattoos that worked as passes to different zones. I liked the idea of a functional design on the body, but instead of control, I wanted it to be something more elegant. At that time, my friends were organizing a sound art festival of performances, and I decided to create a strange performance there \u2013 I would get a tattoo and make a robot that would use it as a score.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Everything happened lightning fast; I drew the tattoo in Photoshop in probably about 20 minutes, then immediately ran to find a salon with an available artist, but it was already evening and everyone was either busy or didn\u2019t want to do such a tattoo. Eventually, in despair, I stumbled into the last salon that happened to be on my way; everything there was in a biker-rocker style, far from what I needed, but they liked the idea when I started explaining it, and the artist did everything very quickly. I didn\u2019t wait for the tattoo to heal and immediately started \u2018building\u2019 the object for reading it; a couple of times I touched the tattoo with the details \u2013 it was very painful and funny. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"::vtol:: constructs kinetic sculptures, robotics and installations \u00a0 Dmitry Morozov, known as ::vtol::, develops technology-based installations and kinetic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[365,362,363,364,366,9913,18,117,19,9914,17,2983,9915,9916,9917,9918],"class_list":{"0":"post-10186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-design-interviews","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-interactive-installation","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-personal-technology","20":"tag-robots","21":"tag-sonar","22":"tag-sound-art","23":"tag-wearable-technology"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}