League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots @ MOCAD

League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots is a Brooklyn-based group of artists and technologists who create robotic musical instruments. Founded in 2000 by musician and engineer Eric Singer, LEMUR creates exotic, sculptural musical instruments which integrate robotic technology. LEMUR's philosophy is to build robots that are new types of musical instruments, as opposed to animatronic robots that play existing instruments.

LEMUR's growing ensemble includes over 50 robotic instruments. GuitarBot, an electric stringed instrument, is comprised of several independently controllable stringed units which can pick and slide extremely rapidly. ModBots are a large collection of modular percussion robots in a variety of styles and functions, including beaters, singing bells and shakers. The Ill-Tempered Clangier is a robotic xylophone-like tubular bell instrument which clangs percussive melodies on forty-four tuned metal pipes. ForestBot is comprised of a forest of egg-shaped rattles sprouting from long rods that quiver and sway over onlookers. TibetBot is designed around three Tibetan singing bowls struck by robotic arms to produce a range of timbres.

LEMUR is supported in part by generous grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Greenwall Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Experimental Television Center and Materials for the Arts. LEMUR is also supported by Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center.

The League of Electronic Musical Robots will be performing this Friday in Detroit at the MOCAD. An art Installation will occur between 8pm and 12am, with LEMUR performances at 8:45pm and 10:30pm. For more information, visit www.lemurbots.org.