Amy Chiao - naturalsoldiering
Project Description
naturalsoldiering is a research and world-building experiment on anthropomorphic design used in the military to familiarize herself with the land of non-bipedal camofleurs. Chiao’s project is framed in Taylorism’s concept of “natural soldiering” (the average human tendency to work at a slow easy pace) and is contextualized in the guns versus butter economic model. Interjecting herself as an unofficial researcher/participant/guide at the Texas Military Forces Museum, video evidence shows Chiao practicing stealth army crawls between exhibits, churning butter while contemplating artifacts, and guiding visitors to imagine their ideal soldiering companion while exploring the appendages and orifices of the technologies on display. Further explorations are told through a digital collage of Chiao’s butter sculptures and links to external research.
If you’d like to participate, email amychiao.design@gmail.com to sign up to join Amy on Sunday afternoons 2-3pm at a historical museum in Austin throughout the month of October.
Perfect for fans of design, motion economy, unintentionally weird museums, or videos of Boston Dynamics robots getting shoved around.
Artist Bio
Amt Chiao is a multimedia artist, performer, and designer working in site-specific performance, installation, collage, and video. From Cerritos, California, Chiao comes from a family of Cantonese musicians and composers, Opera singers, and mannequin manufacturers. Her work strives to uncover the fictitious nature of society through dramaturgy, narratology, and speculative design. Amy holds two degrees in textiles and set design, and her work has been shown at Automata Theater, Human Resources (LA), The Elysian Theater, and more.
Q&A with Amy Chiao
What tools, techniques, or skills did you use for this project?
I played with collage on photoshop and mmm.page, video edited on premiere pro, created handmade butter sculptures w/ horsehair + metal hardware, and learned a couple different army crawls on Youtube from leopard, gorilla, to bear.
Is there anything you’d like visitors to take away from this or consider going in?
Consider this a visual landing page for my WIP research on anthropomorphic design used in military applications contextualized in the guns versus butter economic model. If you’d like to help participate in my research and/or watch me churn butter at a historical museum in Austin, join me on Sunday afternoons 2-3pm throughout the month of October. Email me first if you’d like me to prepare a personalized 15 minute “tour” for you.
What inspired you to create this project?
Since moving to Austin in 2024 to work as a CMF (Color, Material, Finish) designer in the robotics industry, I’ve been fascinated by anthropomorphic design in commercial applications, researching how this tool of projecting humanity into inanimate objects can be used for emotional connection, and spectacle. When I first visited the military museum here, I felt the most eerie embodied feeling; seeing direct parallels to my CMF design world through the museum objects on display from the uncanny white knit-covered mannequins to the routinely sold-out “Cuddle Zoo Classics” tank plushie in the gift shop. Making artwork about warfare is well outside my comfort zone, but I think taking this opportunity to study the manufacturing impact and aesthetic evolution of military vehicles and protective gear into modern robotics and consumer goods is important for myself to develop a more informed perspective on.
How does interactivity work for this site?
The interactivity is pretty direct on my homepage. By clicking on the images, you will be directed to some of my research images, videos, and articles. As a performance artist, I tend to worry that without links or slides, audiences can get lost or confused with how I’ve come to justify the logic of my actions and text. I hope this website format is more accessible in this way, where audiences can explore at their own pace to navigate information.
Want to apply for a future residency? Check out our application page for more information about joining our community of digital artists. Stay connected with us on Discord and follow us on Instagram for the latest updates.