A MACHINE FOR LIVING

A Machine for Living is a sci-fi thriller, and a work of live cinema performed with puppets and handmade special effects. Having absorbed errant extraterrestrial DNA, a Southern California artist slowly evolves into highly advanced alien other. As she receives revelations from her distant planet her body transforms, and she finds herself capable a supernatural botanical reproduction that could transform the human race. Pursued as a biological terrorist she must decide her next steps.

This work premiered at Automata in Los Angeles in spring of 2018.

Writer, Designer & Director: Susan Simpson
Video Design: Ting Zhang
Sound Design: Jesse Mandapat
Lighting Design: Moira MacDonald
Puppeteers: Moira MacDonald Molly Allis
Recorded Voices: Samuel Camp, Anne Yatco

Susan Simpson is a Los Angeles based, multidisciplinary artist and puppet theater director. Her practice includes installation, puppet theater, miniatures and animation. She makes performances and interactive public art works that engage viewers in intimate viewing. Her works often investigate the history, mythology of the sites where they are located. Since 2004 she has been the Co-Artistic Director, of Automata. Simpson’s performance work has been presented at HERE in New York, The Museum of Jurassic Technology, The Santa Monica Museum, and REDCAT among other venues.

She has received funding from Creative Capital, The MAP Fund, The Center for Cultural Innovation, The Jim Henson Foundation, The California Community Foundation, The Durfee Foundation. She is a recipient of Center Theatre Group’s Richard E.Sherwood Award. She has created public art works for The Huntington Library, Gardens and Art Collections and The City of Inglewood.