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JCAF Knowledge Talks · July 10 · 46 min

Andean Cosmotechnics

Paula Gaetano Adi speaks about her robotics practice, which blends Western technologies with traditional South American crafts, vernacular cultures, folklore, collective work and DIY making. In doing so, she questions the morality behind contemporary technological innovations, and expands on what robots can say about human relations and power. Gaetano also shares insights about her work Guanaquerx (2024), the first robot to cross the Andes Mountains. Designed after the guanaco, a camelid native to South America, the project radically imagines a robot liberation from utilitarian, extractive and militarised technological paradigms. Mentioned in this episode: ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ (Donna Haraway, 2016) Mestizo Robotics Guanaquerx (Gaetano Adi, 2024) Cosmotechnics (Yuk Hui, 2021) The Crossing of the Andes (1817) Three Laws of Robotics explained by Isaac Asimov (1965) ‘Technology & Ethos’ (Amiri Baraka, 1970) To find out more about Paula’s work, visit her website. Music for the JCAF Knowledge Talks podcast was commissioned by JCAF. ‘INGWENYA’, performed by the Afrikan Freedom Principle, led by Mandla Mlangeni, © MM Publishing. Website URL: ⁠⁠⁠⁠jcaf.org.za⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠foundation_jcaf

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Paula Gaetano Adi speaks about her robotics practice, which blends Western technologies with traditional South American crafts, vernacular cultures, folklore, collective work and DIY making. In doing so, she questions the morality behind contemporary technological innovations, and expands on what robots can say about human relations and power. Gaetano also shares insights about her work Guanaquerx (2024), the first robot to cross the Andes Mountains. Designed after the guanaco, a camelid native to South America, the project radically imagines a robot liberation from utilitarian, extractive and militarised technological paradigms.

Mentioned in this episode:
‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ (Donna Haraway, 2016)
Mestizo Robotics
Guanaquerx (Gaetano Adi, 2024)
Cosmotechnics (Yuk Hui, 2021)
The Crossing of the Andes (1817)
Three Laws of Robotics explained by Isaac Asimov (1965)
‘Technology & Ethos’ (Amiri Baraka, 1970)

To find out more about Paula’s work, visit her website.  

Music for the JCAF Knowledge Talks podcast was commissioned by JCAF.
‘INGWENYA’, performed by the Afrikan Freedom Principle, led by Mandla Mlangeni, © MM Publishing.

Website URL: ⁠⁠⁠⁠jcaf.org.za⁠
⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠foundation_jcaf

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