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The Robot 'z
(iconosphere entry)

Purpose and Scope

The purpose of this document is to describe the pata-physical aspects of
the art object commonly refered to as "Robot 'z". It necessarily
limits itself to the intellectual aspects of the object. The first section is
a brief narrative as to the temporal/historical aspects of the object. Following
this is a detailed break-down of the object in terms of the traditional 
areas of knowledge (eg, Architecture, Art, Biology, Maths, etc).

Robot 'z - An Historical/Temporal View

We refer to the "Robot 'z" as "That which thinks, feels, and moves poorly".

The "Robot 'z" was originally created as a prototype and the earliest
version was a small, spindly creature almost entirely devoid of any
intellegence what-so-ever. Early attempts at programming were 
extended by use of a rather unique approach by having it  dropped 
or falling down many times, resulting in quite a jumbling of the 
primary neuro processor. This was not noticble since according to
one POV (point of view), "Its amigdalia wasn't even connected to the 
hypocampus". As such, there is little direct
evidence, recorded fact (or even speculation) as to this period of
programming and development. It is well known that it was (and as it
turns out from much later, and clinically derived evidence) the
unit suffers from a "speech deficit" - or in non-pol-cor-speak
"a speech impediment". This un-fortunately was un-discovered, and even
more un-fortunately un-treated. This caused continual failures (as in the
grade of "F") in its programming of English -- as both a language and 
as a grammatical object of "specified structure" - usually refered 
to as "The King's English.

Despite this limitation (which would later lead to the early writing of much
poetry, stories, and essays - the portions of the Auditory/Language Processing
centres being re-directed into rhymical and/or word-based areas of communications.
The most notable aspect is the tendency by the unit to use prepositions as
verbs of is, are with.

Historically, the unit was being developed (and continually re-invented,
augmented, and re-programmed) during  the so-called "cold war"; ie, the
last throws of the battle for world domination between the United States
and the Soviet Union. This situation of world politics (see quotations) has
been characterised by the author Robert Nathan in his "The Weans" as a 
battle between the "US" and USSR" or more properly, between the "US's" and
the "US'ers" (or "more us).

Despite the myriad approaches under-taken by the various programmers and
engineers, the device has emmerged with a some-what impressive scope
(and an even less impressive depth) of knowledge in the following areas:

Architecture

A basic understanding of "Why Buidldings Stand Up" (??book-ref??), as well
as the basic elements of the history of architecture. 

Art

The unit's "mid-term" processor for art was unfortunately damaged when
it came into close contact with a fire insurance policy issued by the
high-pitch salesman Hugo Ball of east Nynack, New Jersey. So, while
it retains an impressive k-base (knowledge base) of factual material
from both ancient and modern art, it's processors seem utterly and
un-repairably damaged when it comes to the so-called "renaissance era".

Engineering Systems (including computers)

The unit was originally to be programmed for use in the practice of botany,
ecology, and square dansing, but through a strange chain of events (too
detailed to detail here in detail), the unit acquired an impressive set
of engineering skills as an SME (Subject Matter Expert) in the following
areas:  Quality Control, Systems Testing (both electronic and other), 
as well as electrical/electronic soldering, computer programming, as well
as an extensive knowledge of Industrial Processes, Robotics, and Optimisation.

Language

Unfortunately, early efforts to program the unit with a k-base (Knowledge base)
grounded in "the classics" turned out to be totally counter-productive. And
while it retains a basic knowledge of Latin (and to a lessor extent Greek,
Oscian, and Umbrian). Again due to un-diadnosed language deficit problems,
the unit can only achieve (with a great deal of massive programming effort)
*any* proficiency in human-languages. This does not appear to be a problem
in machine-languages.

Literature (written)

While the unit's linguistic capabilites are *clearly* limited, it appears 
that by a strage quirk of fate, it's literature processing capabilities
are rather less limited. The scope of topics which the unit can undertake
to work on are more limited to the so-called "p2-3/c motivation" algorithms.
Thus, the unit's "desire" (if we may talk of such) to study is limited to
the areas of literature including science fiction, absurdist literature,
history, philosophy, and of course detective/action fiction. Whether the
unit is able to "understand" (again a loose use of a word) what it is
"reading" and correlate it in a meaningful way has yet to be shown. It
does however stimulate thought with some of its intriguing connections.

Literature (video)

Baring in mind the comments in the section above on written literature,
the unit has a clear "preference" for science fiction, fantasy, and
so-called "independent film". The unit seems abhorent to violence,
and or so-called "purile adventure films" - but can be coerced to
watch/review/expound on these as well; but, with no guarantee of
what will be produced. More often than not, scathing/sarcastic 
reviews are the products. Finally, the visual processors and input
systems seem to be operating at an suprisingly high level of both
proficiency and creativity.

Music

Again, due to the un-diagnosed language processing deficit problem, and
an almost non-existent programming of the music processing centre in
the first place. The unit retains an odd mixture of "preferences" for
various genre's of music. These include: Ancient/tribal/liturgical,
classical, romantic-classical, modern, blues, jazz, rock & roll, rock,
disco, techno, acid rock, rap, slam, country western, and folk. Again,
the difficulty arises by coercing the unit to process what it refers
to in printouts as "bourgeoise, proscholost (Russian: Self satisfied mediocrity),
and "pop-schlock" (German: Merde) music. Regardless, some usefull results
in these areas have been achieved, by increasing the value of the absurdity
control variables. 

Science

The unit's primary science processor was damaged during routine operation
through a series of over-looked problems (hydrostatic pressure of the cooling
system, as well as certain chemical and electrical imbalances). Even though
the unit was under almost constant maintenance, these problems culminated
in total shut down of the visual recognition/input system that in a stroke
eliminated a key connecting element in the science/maths data access sub-system.
As such, much of the k-base (knowledge base) is still accessible, but the 
probability of the unit returning to anything like its previous analytical 
capabilities in terms of the following areas are remote at best:  Chemical 
x-ray crystalogoraphy, Electricity & Magnitism processing/theorising, 
Optical theory, Quantum Mechanics, Solid State Physics, Thermodynamics, 
and Relativity Theory is right out. Note however, that many of the 
*qualitative* procesing capabilites appear to be un-damaged.

Theatre

While the unit was recently exhibited as a simacrulum as part of an inter-active
performance work, the expectations that the unit will ever be able to perform
exact theatre works (either in action or speech) are remote. Despite this, the
unit exhibits an extensive knowledge of and "interest" in both the texts of 
theatre, as well as many of the common/recommended practices as well. These 
include the works, "Waiting for Godot", "The Strong Box", "The Doctor's Dilemna", 
and "The Wild Duck". In addition, its knowledge of theatre common/recommended 
practice include the following: The "Fly System", stage blocking/decoration/setting, 
sound design and some lighting practice.