Acting
Matt Heckert
Matt Heckert is an American sound artist, born in 1957. He was involved in Survival Research laboratories in the 1980s before becoming a machine musical artist. Matt Heckert graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1979 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and joined the machine performance art group Survival Research Laboratories in 1980. Matt Heckert's main work in the group centered on the acoustic and musical parts of performance. He left the group in 1988 to follow his musical interests, developing the Mechanical Sound Orchestra (MSO). The MSO was awarded the Golden Nica at the Ars Electronica 1997 for Digital Musics. The collection of sound machines has toured the US and Europe extensively.
Acting credits
NRDocumentary that profiles Mark Pauline, the machine performance artist of Survival Research Laboratories. As the Title suggests, Pauline lost most of one hand during experimentation. 'Maimed Artist' explores the often destructive world of such performance art, where there is a fine line between entertainment and insanity.
Maimed Artist
1984
NRDocumentation of three Survival Research Laboratories events, 1983-1984. Meet Stu, the SRL guinea pig, and see him training to operate the 4-legged Walking Machine, see 10-barrel shotguns, hear the "Stairway to Hell".
A Scenic Harvest from the Kingdom of Pain
1984
8.01 A Bitter Message Of Hopeless Grief 2 The Will To Provoke 3 The Delusions Of Expediency 4 The Pleasure Of Uninhibited Excess 5 A Scenic Harvest From The Kingdom Of Pain 6 Virtues Of Negative Fascination 7 Seven Machine Performances
Survival Research Laboratories - Ten Years Of Robotic Mayhem
2004
10.0Five mechanized performances of Survival Research Laboratories, 1985-1986. 70 min. of endless pursuits, unavoidable captures, and merciless punishments.
Virtues Of Negative Fascination
1986
6.9Living in a fictional world all their own, the machines of Survival Research Laboratories act out scenarios of perpetual torment, exasperating consumption, and tragic recognition
A Bitter Message of Hopeless Grief
1988
NRThe 1988 European tour of Survival Research Laboratories, with shows in Amsterdam and Copenhagen. SRL ferrets out and gleefully satirizes assorted icons of cultural pride in two of Europes more allegedly libertarian democracies.
The Will To Provoke: An Account Of Fantastic Schemes For Initiating Social Improvements
1989