Nostalgia Robot (book and usb + digital)
A multimedia project by Alessio Ballerini and Silvia Candelaresi
video and music Alessio Ballerini | short story Silvia Candelaresi | inventor Diego Mantica
On sale 200 limited editions! The release includes all in one (sci-fi book in eng and ita + videoart + audiobook in eng and ita + soundtrack) for 60 euro
if you wish to receive the digital format of our items contact us via e-mail (oakartlabel@gmail.com) and you can have: (sci-fi book in eng and ita + videoart + audiobook in eng and ita + soundtrack) for 23 euro
ABSTRACT
The speaking voice in the story is that of an old American robot of the Sixties, prototype of a series of industrial machines employed in metal casting and designed to perform jobs that were some of the most dangerous for human health. Ultimate its name, since the invention was then at the cutting edge of mechanization in industry; following the robot’s memories we get to know its inventor, Neil Devol, whom we see at work from the very beginning as he’s forging that first model, putting together the different pieces in the almost magical atmosphere of his workshop. Ultimate will soon be used for assembly line production in a large factory, the Unimated, and will work hard for years, in accord with the other machines and in perfect harmony with men until one day Devol, while he’s paying visit to his robots, receives a phone call. This is the true turning point, represented here by the push for technological change. Wary but determined, Neil Devol is a man of his time, one who can get a glimpse of new frontiers and future demands presenting himself as their first architect; his is a last ditch effort not to avoid change and instead escape the past in the final encounter with modernity.
The short story, the video and the music have been created simultaneously, taking inspiration one from the other. The video gives its interpretation of a part of the story, the moment in which the inventor finally makes up his mind, just before going to the factory. Devol’s genuine and at times sad commitment is projected into the machine and strongly comes out when he wears the robotic glove, almost becoming one with his own creation, in a weird, grotesque setting, the glove built with odd computer parts, the overall mimicking American spacesuits and finally the factory, a refinery rather than an industry employing die casting machines.