Press release of the day: Robots fish for prostates

by Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet • 9/25/08 • This isn’t nominally an art-related event—but I have a sneaking suspicion it may be a piece of conceptual guerilla performance art.

According to a press release unmistakably labeled TIME SENSITIVE (though time, really, is about the least sensitive aspect of this event), fishing legend Al Lindner—“one of the world’s best all-around anglers”—will be at Brainerd Lakes Health on Monday to raise awareness for prostate health. (Did you know it’s National Prostate Health Month? You do now.) Using a robotic system that will translate his hand movements into “precise movements of micro-instruments across the surgical suite room,” Lindner will rig “various artificial lures.”

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The robotics system, named for Leonardo da Vinci (though if there is any modern invention that might have been beyond Leonardo’s imagination, this is it), “consists of an ergonomic surgeon’s console, a patient-side cart with four interactive robotic arms, a high-performance 3D HD vision system and proprietary EndoWrist® instruments.” It “allows the surgeon to work very effectively within a very small space inside the body, minimizing complications.”

So if you’ve been looking for a holiday gift for that brother-in-law who already has a trolling motor and a gas-powered ice auger, this might just be what you were looking for. Better start saving now, though—the average cost of a da Vinci system is $1,500,000.