A paper by Aleksandra Michalewicz, University of Melbourne, for the Ancient World Seminar at 1:00 on Monday 25 March in Old Arts 254 and via Zoom.
To receive the Zoom link please email Dr Edward Jeremiah (edwardj@unimelb.edu.au).
The ‘Stone-Robots’ is a collaboration involving archaeologists, theatre specialists, and roboticists at the University of Melbourne, and examines the intersection of cultural heritage and technology through unique immersive performances featuring robots disguised as monoliths. Inspired by significant standing stones from around the world, the team has staged performances at Science Gallery Melbourne in November 2022 and the Victorian College of the Arts in January–February 2024, offering audiences unique interactive experiences with mobile robotic swarms. The project explores data physicalisation and the transformation of digital representations into tangible artefacts, using digital versions of standing stones provided by research partners in Morocco, The Gambia, Costa Rica, and Mongolia. It raises questions about the creation of artificial sites – especially in Australia – as well as responsibility and custodianship. The work aims to fill a research gap in human-scale swarm behaviours, and seeks insights into secular ritual, contemplation, trust and embodied knowledge. In reimagining standing stones and robotic swarms, the project investigates the re/construction of archaeological sites as loci of human interaction, technological engagement and creativity.
Aleksandra Michalewicz is an interdisciplinary researcher at Melbourne Data Analytics Platform (MDAP) where she applies digital and computational methods to data-driven and data-intensive collaborations. She is also a Digital Research Academic Convenor (DRAC), contributing to strategic programs, infrastructure and initiatives that enhance digital research at the University. She holds an MA in Classics and a PhD in archaeology and has taught at Melbourne, La Trobe, Monash and Deakin universities. Her expertise includes digital archaeology, digital heritage, digital HASS, legacy data investigation, research design, research data governance, sensitive data, digital and data ethics and interdisciplinary research methodologies and practices. She has excavated in Georgia between 2008 and 2018 with Georgian-Australian Investigations in Archaeology, the Landscape Archaeology in Georgia research group and for the Mtskheta Institute of Archaeology, and in 2022 with a La Trobe University ARC-funded expedition in Jordan.
Classical Association of Victoria 