Phobos is a set of small robots and automatic music generation devices that form a Disfunctional Robotic Orchestra, an orchestra with strange instruments with defects, genetic mutations and erratic behaviors.
Phobos represents a critique of the technological overlapping over human thought, the function of labour and modern forms of slavery, as well as an historical retrospective of the various attempts of human liberation through machines, its technological utopias, the advances and retreats of freedoms. Its name comes from greek mythology, where Phobos is the incarnation of fear, and is also the name of the largest moon of Mars, doomed to disappear due to the proximity of its orbit to the planet.
Conception and artistic direction: Gustavo Costa
New instruments by: Henrique Fernandes, Gustavo Costa, Alberto Lopes
Guest musicians and instrument builders: Thierry Madiot, Vincent Martial and Hanna Hartman
Programming and robotics: Tiago Ângelo and João Menezes
Composition: Carlos Guedes, Rui Dias and José Alberto Gomes
Cenographic Design: Igor Gandra (Teatro de Ferro)
Video: Miguel C. Tavares
Executive production: Patrícia Caveiro
Production: Sonoscopia
Technical assistance: Digitópia
Logistic support: Teatro de Ferro
Partners: GNRation, NYU Abu Dhabi, CCVF, Centro Cultural de Ílhavo and Festival Bons Sons
Project funded by REPÚBLICA PORTUGUESA | CULTURA and DGARTES