He is also slowly working toward a machine to be controlled by an EEG, which measures brain waves. &"Everyone's trying to do that right now," he says. &"I'm hoping what will differentiate me is my outputs." He can probably count on that.

Spelletich began his odd brand of performance art in the ‘80s while working on his MFA in Interdisciplinary Art at the University of Texas in Austin. He kept his life of performances on the punk rock scene separate from the university so that he was free of their critiques, has since lectured at several universities, and recently taught at San Francisco State University.

When he first came to San Francisco, Spelletich hooked up for several years with Survival Research Labs, possibly the daddy of the machine performance groups, which got started in 1978, and is known for shows of violence and destruction. Spelletich says they were the gods of the scene and an awesome experience, but he left to pursue ideas of his own.

He strives to empower his audiences rather than make them feel threatened by technology. &"That's a little gift I can give people," he says. &"I put the audience on stage, and I make them superheroes, with superhero power. At the end of the demonstration, the applause goes to the person, maybe a little to the machine – hopefully not to me."

Spelletich says there is also a message in his work. &"Like Oppenheimer and Einstein were saying, technology is going to kill us or it's going to save us," he says. &"It's what you do with it." He demonstrates that technology can be used in playful and poetic ways, and that it does not have to be about money. For Spelletich, it certainly is not. He made only $13,000 last year but continues to throw away opportunities for commercial or military applications of his work.

He says people always ask him how he does it, but says you really don't need a huge budget to create machine art. &"That's a myth," he says. &"Forget about getting funding, just do it."

Spelletich grubs many of his materials from junkyards, and receives others as gifts through various connections. He says he has never bought a computer but has been given several Macs by collaborators in the underground art world, and currently owns a G4. He was first turned on to Macs by a collaborator known as Geek Boy, and has been hooked ever since.

He primarily uses the Macs to document his work, the work of his students, and to write his book, he says. He is particularly excited about iMovie® and iPhoto®, and says it is fantastic being able to edit his projects himself. &"It's spectacular; it's so easy to use. I love it", he says.

Kal Spelletich's work can be viewed on his website at http://www.seemen.org.