Justin Tyler Tate
I was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When I was very small, about five, my family moved down to Florida where I lived until I was eighteen. In Florida I had the chance to regularly visit amusement parks where I saw the impossible creatures and fantastic objects which children dream about. My parents were young, working towards an upper middle class lifestyle, and I grew up an only child. Curious and forced to make my own entertainment I took everything I could get my hands on apart. I reconfigured the workings of small appliances, home electronics and toys.
I came back to Halifax when I was eighteen to attend NSCAD University. I graduated in 2007 with a Major in Fine Arts and Minor in Art History.

A.I.S.S. (Artificially Intelligent Soft Sculpture)

The A.I.S.S. (Artificial Intelligent Soft Sculpture) is not just interactive but also introspective; reacting to the surroundings it is able to learn from what external stimuli may be encountered. While the mind of the Artificially Intelligent Soft Sculpture is advanced, it’s body- a deer’s body, is in shambles. Cut off at the waist and elbows it remains relatively unanimated except for the blinking of its doe eyes. Contained within this soft exterior is the ultimate combination of advanced robotic technology: a network of sensors, motors, feedback devices, and real foam stuffing. These sculp-tronic features allow the Artificially Intelligent Soft Sculpture to realize the entire gamut of sculptural capabilities. Finally a sculpture is able to experience how it feels to be a sculpture and what it means to be looked at as an object.

- Justin Tyler Tate (2007)