[Chico MacMurtrie](http://amorphicrobotworks.org/works/index.htm)'s [_Border Crossers _](https://www.facebook.com/BorderCrosser)are sculptural statements that bridge borders, both physical and symbolic. MacMurtrie plans to install _Border Crossers_ at a range of significant locations, including the U.S.-Mexico border in the artist&#x2019;s home state of Arizona. Here, the artist would anchor sculptures on both sides of the border. Illuminated from within, the structures would then inflate simultaneously over the border to create six glowing archways, as shown above.

Like the Amorphic Robotic Works director&#x2019;s previous works&#x2014;which include his _[Biomorphic Wall](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/a-lifelike-biomorphic-wall-grows-in-brooklyn)  _and _[The Robotic Church](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/a-robotic-church-rises-in-red-hook)&#x2014;_these six sculptures employ robotics to create lightweight, transportable installations. When compressed, _Border Crossers_ can easily fit into a travel backpack. When inflated, however, MacMurtrie&#x2019;s balloon-like creations can arch over fences and walls and are equipped with sensing and surveillance technology in order to stage the choreographed installation as a &#x201c;mediatized event.&#x201d; As the press release explains, &#x201c;_Border Crossers_ invites the public to rethink the notion of borders in a globalized world \[&#x2026;\] This project envisions technology as a positive tool to establish dialogues beyond borders, to question borders, and to create a symbolic suspension and transcendence of borders.&#x201d;

MacMurtrie&#x2019;s robotic sculptures [debuted late last month](http://www.zero1.org/events/exhibition/border-crosser-chico-macmurtrieamorphic-robot-works) in San José, California in collaboration with arts organization [ZERO1](http://www.zero1.org/), in the spirit of using art as a platform for social issues. The artist will further the discussion at CalArts&#x2019; symposium on Art and Immigration, [I](http://www.redcat.org/event/immigration-artcritiqueprocess)[mmigration: Art/Critique/Process](http://www.redcat.org/event/immigration-artcritiqueprocess), in March.  Find images and a video from _Border Crossers'_ debut below.

Borders can appear hard and fixed on maps, in language, and in space. But these borders are constructed and ultimately malleable. Border Crossers comprise a series of lightweight robotic  sculptures  that  poetically  explore  and  question  the  notion  of  borders  and boundary conditions. The inflatable sculptures, working in tandem, rise up to several stories high and extend across a given threshold. Their choreographed performance, originating on both sides of the border, would stage a symbolic connection. 

Each physical deployment would also take the form of a mediatized event, recorded and broadcast over the web using satellite and video feeds.  
Border Crossers provoke investigation of borders as constructed entities. At one level its actions embody a simple curiosity to see what lies on the other side of a border (national, architectural, environmental, etc.). On another level the work expresses a utopian desire to live in a world without borders. The project treats the border as a physical condition that can be temporarily transcended by technological proxies. It offers a critique of militarized geopolitical borders, and a metaphorical suspension of those borders in the form  of  temporary  arches  or  partial  arches  equipped  with  sensing  and  surveillance technology.  

The specific choreography of the inflatable machines would vary from one situation to the next. In one imagined scenario along the U.S.---Mexico border fence, up to six inflatable units would be installed on opposite sides of the border (either public or private property in towns or the desert). At dusk, the reflective white, ethereal forms are activated by compressed air, and begin to grow gradually, gracefully upwards into towers, standing out against their surroundings. The robots use their “muscles” to move and undulate into a variety of forms as they rise. Once they reach above the barrier fence, they begin to arch toward the other side of the border. Those machines anchored on the Mexican side cross over and touch down on the U.S side. Reciprocally, the U.S.---based  machines touch down on Mexican soil at the same moment. Together the machines, illuminated from inside or outside,  form  six  unifying  archways,  simultaneously  inhabiting  and  puncturing  the artificial border imposed upon the citizens of these countries.  

Border Crossers invites the public to rethink the notion of borders in a globalized world. Technology currently helps to overcome cultural and economic borders, but is also frequently used to maintain and reinforce physical borders. This project envisions technology as a positive tool to establish dialogues beyond borders, to question borders, and to create a symbolic suspension and transcendence of borders.

The Border Crossers remind us that we are connected, that borders can be temporary (as temporary  as  the  “crossing”  performance).  Their  actions  allude  to  the  equality  of humanity against a backdrop of tensions and conflicts over national and cultural identity. Technology comes to the fore in this questioning of the boundaries placed upon trans--- border cultures and ecologies.

The first Border Crosser was presented by ZERO1 in San Jose, CA in February 2016 and was supported, in part, by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San José, Arizona State University Art Museum and Herberger Institute School of Art, the Montalvo Arts Center, and Dyneema®.

Border Crosser (Prototype)

Find out more information on _Border Crossers_ on the project's [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/BorderCrosser) and see more of Chico MacMurtrie's work on his [website](http://amorphicrobotworks.org).

_[A Robotic Church Rises in Red Hook](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/a-robotic-church-rises-in-red-hook)_

_[A Lifelike 'Biomorphic Wall' Grows In Brooklyn](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/a-lifelike-biomorphic-wall-grows-in-brooklyn)_

_[Teleport to a Surreal Desert Sculpture Garden in Virtual Reality](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/teleport-to-a-surreal-desert-sculpture-garden-in-virtual-reality)_

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Artist Chico MacMurtrie's new installation "invites the public to rethink the notion of borders in a globalized world." 

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Robotic Sculptures Will Cross the U.S.-Mexico Border

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Robotic Sculptures Will Cross the U.S.-Mexico Border

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