Maladjusted Ecosystem, 2010

Video Works
Written By Andrew MacDonald

Photo Credit: Jessica Field

This project is a simplified social experiment to see how a few simple principles can create negative behaviours that complicate one's ability to experience life as they intend. When the robots interact with each other, we see how a potential ecosystem is never realized due to each robot's tragic flaw (programmed principles). Instead, we see stereotypical responses that results from the attitude of always struggling in a robot versus robot environment. This endless struggle prevents any robot from experiencing unity with its surroundings. Since the robots are able to choose their own behavioural responses to their environment, they become a simplified mimicry of life that shows how their limited programs guide their reactions in a controlled social environment. Thus the work becomes a performance illustrating how these one or two principles influencing all the robots' responses affect the individual robot and its peers in both an indirect and direct manner.

This work looks at how the predisposition to follow one's own ideas interferes with the concept of unity and how being completely oblivious to the environment without some internalization of the data gathered from the environment is also at odds with cooperation. Programming the Line Reader and Light Seeker robots to constantly self analyze has the result of making them nearly incapable of functioning in a productive way. They are preoccupied with their own internal dramas of fulfilling an unachievable goal. The oblivious robots, the Drawing and Light Emitter, are no better as they have no knowledge of the robots who are dependant on them and cannot attentively assist them.

Thus, the work is a performance depicting the suffering of these robots who are working to create a closed ecosystem that can never be realized due to their attitudes that are driven by a completely self absorbed program.

Andrew MacDonald

With more than 20 years in marketing leadership, Andrew brings a clarity-first approach shaped by his early career in the non-profit sector. At World Vision Canada, he managed multi-million-dollar campaigns and drove donor retention strategies; later, at Opportunity International Canada, he built an in-house creative team that delivered innovative, cost-efficient marketing across the country.

Those experiences taught him that effective marketing isn’t about flashy tactics — it’s about strategy, efficiency, and measurable ROI. Today, Andrew applies that discipline to help entrepreneurs escape the “marketing swirl,” invest smarter, and grow with confidence through the Kasama Method™.

Clients describe him as a trusted partner who asks the big questions, simplifies complexity, and always walks alongside them with solutions. He’s passionate about blending strategy and technology in ways that make growth achievable for small and mid-sized businesses.

Beyond Kasama, Andrew gives back by advising local charities and serving on community boards. At home in Quinte, he and his wife Katrina are raising two kids — and when he’s not strategizing for clients, you’ll find him planning the next family beach trip or catching up on post-apocalyptic TV shows.

http://www.kasama.ca/
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