BODY MACHINE (MERIDIANS) is a
series of biomimetic robotic speculations, sculpted in air, that reimagines machines as extensions of living systems. 

The concept of Meridian is woven throughout
as both a planetary measurement and a path of the body. 

Through this dual meaning, the artist invites the viewer to reflect on bodies – bodies in motion, machinic forms, and earth’s biomes - exploring how the three might interweave.

Inspired by philosopher Gilbert Simondon’s notion of the machine as metaphor—a creation shaped by imagination, fabrication, and illusion—BODY MACHINE (MERIDIANS) expands the boundaries of the machinic imaginary, challenging today’s AI systems to suggest a more symbiotic future.

This work investigates the permeability of the robotic form—reimagining machines not just as tools, but as extensions of the human body, sites of invention where 'us in another form' emerges. In this evolving relationship, the notion of intertwined authorship deepens. 

The interstitial meaning between the mark made by hand and the mark made by machine blur shifting and evolving. In the recent Generation’s focus on adapting biosignal and machine feedback, the integration of bioelectric levels of the body create further distinction between artistic intention and robotic interpretation, an ambiguity that reframes our understanding of collaboration.

These works are created using custom training models and spatial technologies, where gestural lines are suspended and scale is a permeable medium. The gestural lines are captured as 'Meridian Data'—movement data representing the body as a generative system. The spatial Meridian Dataset will be the foundation for the next generation of D.O.U.G. (Drawing Operations Unit Generations), driving the next generation of creative symbiosis.

A Meridian serves as a concept for measuring both the human body and the planetary body, existing in the imagination as a vital energy pathway 子午线 in Traditional Chinese Medicine and as a global measure of longitude. The Meridian bridges these two definitions, connecting the flow of energy within the body to the flow of forces across the planet. 

This convergence is central to BODY MACHINE ( MERIDIANS ), where Meridians are explored as channels of energy and intention that flow through both the body and the planet, across corporeal and environmental scales.

Each piece is drawn in air, likening the spatial act of drawing to the flow of energy within Meridians —embodied flow-states. The data collected from these movements embodies a convergence of intention, energy, and spatial presence, mapping not just the artist’s hand but the entire body’s interaction with different scales, as if tracing pathways across the planet itself.

In this work, two types of Machine Meridians emerge: Cybernetic and Biomimetic. Cybernetic Meridians represent artificial, computational systems, while Biomimetic Meridians draw inspiration from organic ecosystems. These Meridians are further categorized into Macro and Micro biomes. The Macrobiomes—forest, desert, and glacier—define large-scale environments, while the Microbiomes represent more granular, intricate systems, both cybernetic and biomimetic.

During Chung’s field research in 2023-2024 in the forests of Tezpotaln, the Arctic glaciers of Svalbard, and the deserts of Riyadh, the artist captured environmental data that informed the creation of custom models for the Machine Meridians. These models allow the Meridians to inhabit their respective biomes, reflecting the characteristics of each ecosystem, interlacing traces of human, machine, and nature.

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Copyright Sougwen Chung