SRL INFORMATION UPDATE: GENERAL INFO. SHOWS ETC. SRL staged a full-scale show in San Francisco on May 28, 1994. "A CALCULATED FORECAST OF ULTIMATE DOOM:SICKENING EPISODES OF WIDESPREAD DEVASTATION ACCOMPANIED BY SENSATIONS OF PLEASURABLE EXCITEMENT" was SRL's first major show in SF in 5 years. This was our largest performance to date, featuring 10 major remote-controlled devices and a huge assortment of props and stationary machines. Non-stop action! The fun was marred by some unscrupulous person or persons who made and sold fake tickets, leaving approximately 250 genuine ticket holders out of the action. The producers are offering refunds for valid ticket holders. The city attorney is threatening to sue the promoters, Media Kaos, for an undetermined sum of money for "damages" to the previously condemned building. If city attorney Louise Renne decides to press the issue, look for some fun and embarrassing moments this summer for San Francisco's power elite, as SRL runs them through the media wringer. Video footage looks unbelievable, an 8 camera beta cam shoot! SRL video director Leslie Asako Gladsjo will be editing a version for release and a local showing this August/September. At this time work is continuing on several complex new machines. The Wheelocopter is the major new device under construction, (see new machines below). Research is continuing on a series of pulse Jet or propeller powered flying platforms. NEW VIDEO RELEASES SRL video director has been filming an editing a feature length documentary film dealing with the war in former Yugoslavia. She survived the streets of Sarajevo and the on-line. She will return in August and will be editing a segment on the recent SRL show for a showing in SF in Sept. and for a lecture tour and video premiere in Australia in Oct. 1994. Ms. Gladsjo will also be preparing a major video release documenting SRL activities and performances in Barcelona, Spain, Aurillac, France, and Graz, Austria from 1991 to 1992. The tape will examine the issues raised by the war related themes which link these three major SRL events. In addition, Ms. Gladsjo's exhaustive coverage of the strange occurrences surrounding these shows promises to make this tape a prized artifact of SRL history. Look for a release in late 1994. PLANNED NEW DEVICES OR DEVICES UNDER CONSTRUCTION Remote controlled Flying platforms using pulse-jet engines or enclosed-propellers are in the planning and experimentation stages. Deso Monar (the owner and pilot of the Jesus Head Jet powered GO CART in the recent SRL performance) is working on initial development. A WheeloCopter is nearly finished. This radical concept in wheeled vehicles applies the principles of rotor craft to a two-dimensional plane. It's as difficult to describe as it will be for an audience to look at. Parts have been collected for computer-controlled Hydraulic Walking Leg Sets, capable of supporting and moving objects weighing 40 or more tons, in the manner of groups of foraging ants. The power plant is a 175 hp Boeing gas turbine engine. This will be SRL's first jet engine powered device. The Hand-O'-God is a giant spring loaded hand cocked by an air-cylinder with 8 tons of pressure. All parts are secured and construction is underway. An Intelledex five-axis robotic arm was obtained indirectly from Lockheed Missiles and Space Corporation. It was used in the recent SRL performance to rearrange a large tray of meat scraps and aging vegetables. A high resolution camera attached to it's end recorded the action. SOME OF OUR RECENTLY CONSTRUCTED MACHINES A JET-ENGINE POWERED WHEELED VEHICLE has been constructed and was debuted in the "Ultimate Doom" show. It uses a simple jet engine fabricated from a modified high pressure axial turbocompressor driven furnace burner. The engine is mounted on a wheeled cart and can point in a 360 degree arc for propulsion or braking. It uses a Kawasaki 750 motorcycle engine to power the turbine and associated pumps. A 175 hp BOEING GAS TURBINE engine was set up on a pivoting frame and operated in the May 28th performance as an audience misery enhancer. It was pointed at the nearby crowd and swung to and fro. A strong smelling chemical was added to the diesel fuel at one point, adding to the desired effect. A 10 ft long Teleoperated Hydraulic Arm fitted with precision servo-valves and controlled from up to one mile away with an exoskeleton has been constructed and was used as an attachment for the screw machine in the May 28th performance. The exoskeleton controller attaches to the operators arm and precisely mimics the wearer's motions. It can be configured with an optional stereo head mounted vision system which is controlled by the movements of the wearer's head. A portable Foam Generating Machine has recently been constructed. It uses standard high expansion fire-fighting foam and can generate 1500 cubic feet of thick free-standing foam per minute. Primarily intended for use on audiences. A Six-Legged Running Machine (which will have a computer controlled active suspension system) was completed and featured for the first time at the SF Museum Groundbreaking performance. The leg drive system is modeled after the chain drive used on the Hughes Armaments Chain Cannon for sear bolt actuation. A High Pressure Air Launcher, originally developed by NASA for use in avalanche control, is the basis for SRL's first teleoperated machine. It is capable of automatically loading and firing 26 beer can sized projectiles weighing 2 lbs each at 500 feet per second. The operator aims by head movement, viewing the target through a high resolution camera mounted on the gun frame. This device is CO2 gas operated, and so circumvents existing Federal Firearms Laws. A stripped down version was transported by air and used in a ritual assassination of Simon Leis, (the sheriff of Hamilton county, who busted Dennis Barrie for the Robert Mapplethorpe photo show) at the "Mechanica" show, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio. A 100 kilo Joule directable plasma discharge weapon or TASER, designed by Greg Leyh and built at SRL, was successfully tested and used in Europe in 1992. It is currently being rebuilt as an improved design without the sometimes troublesome spark gaps. BAD STUFF! The SF Port Commission, who rented SRL Pier 71 for the "Ultimate Doom " performance on May 28th, were not happy after the show. They refused to return the $3500 damage deposit even after the building was returned to it's original state (or better) by SRL and the promoters. Apparently, this was not enough to satisfy their irritation ( or greed). They have handed the matter over to the City Attorney's office, claiming serious damage to the structure and to their authority. The City Attorney is now threatening to file charges and levy fines against the promoters, Media Kaos and hiala for "the gross misuse of public property". SRL supporters stay tuned. LAWSUITS! SRL Vs ARTPARK ADDENDUM: 7/14/94 SRL's suit in federal court against ARTPARK was settled for a sum of money from NY state. Better than grant money! SRL was until recently, engaged in a Federal Court lawsuit against the state of NY and David Midland, the Director of ARTPARK, over the cancellation of our performance there in 1990 at the behest of Fundamentalist Christians. Our attorney in the case, Lanny Walters, had to sue the Federal Court Judge, Richard Arcara, to force him to hear the case. Judge Arcara, stretched the letter of law for over 2 years in his efforts to avoid hearing the case. He eventually dismissed the suit Lanny appealed and the NY Attorney General fearing an upset in front of a less conservative district court judge, (Judge Arcara is a Reagan appointee), offered a cash settlement, which SRL accepted. SRL Vs EDWARD MAXWELL A lawsuit was filed by Edward Maxwell following SRL's performance at the SF Museum of Modern Art Groundbreaking Ceremony was recently settled. Mr. Maxwell, a wealthy resident of San Francisco's exclusive Marina District, did not actually attend the performance, but was, according to his own medical report, "passing by the performance area in an automobile, seated in the passenger seat with the windows rolled up". Mr. Maxwell claims that he has a pain in his right ear as a result of effects from the performance that the 2500 other persons who attended were not able to perceive. His medical claims are not supported by any of the doctors he has reported seeing in connection with the case. Nevertheless, he engaged the City of San Francisco, The Museum of Modern Art, and SRL in a Superior Court lawsuit. The Museum and the SF City Attorney threatened to sue my insurance carrier, TransAmerica Corp. TransAmerica had reneged on the SRL policy as soon as the case was filed, arbitrarily claiming that the V-1 engine used in the show was a "firework" and its use (which they previously had agreed upon covering) voided all coverage. Their efforts succeeded and Transamerica sent SRL a letter "apologizing" for the "mistake" they had made in refusing to honor the policy. They indicated that they would settle the matter immediately. They ended up paying Mr. Maxwell an undisclosed fee. PUBLICATIONS The SOUTH ATLANTIC QUARTERLY, published by Duke University Press has released "THE SPECIAL ISSUE ON CYBERCULTURE". It contains a 7 page article designed and written by M. Pauline and illustrated by computer manipulated SRL imagery. The article details the unusual events surrounding SRL's performance in Graz, Austria, Nov. 1992, " The Deliberate Evolution of a War Zone..." LECTURES SRL director Mark Pauline will be delivering a lecture presentation at "ROBOT WARS" in San Francisco's Fort Mason on August 20, 1994.