Poetic Movement in a Robotic World: Specimen Products’ Ian Schneller at 41st CreativeMornings in Chicago

CreativeMornings’ global theme for May 2015 was “Robot.” However, the focus of Chicago chapter speaker Ian Schneller, a sculptor and luthier, was on the polar opposite: the value of the human touch.

Robots can tirelessly execute rote commands and movements with superb precision. Humans can’t match this artificial might—the human touch is not 100% accurate in its precision, but rather, its nature is variable. Where a robot excels in repetition, the human touch is nuanced. Where robots excel in...