Survival Research Laboratories (SRL)

Survival Research Laboratories is a performance art group founded by Mark Pauline in November, 1978. Through early 2004, SRL has conducted 45 shows throughout the world, most frequently in the Western United States.

SRL presentations feature various massive and generally dangerous robotic machines, which interact in an assortment of violent ways - these interactions are usually noisy, sadistic, and destructive. A frequent tagline on SRL literature is 'Producing the most dangerous shows on Earth'. A side effect of the group's activities is frequent interactions with governmental and legal authorities.

SRL devices are usually given interesting names, such as the Flame Hurricane, the Large Shock Wave Cannon and the Hand o God. Their performances are also given colorful names, such as The Unexpected Destruction of Elaborately Engineered Artifacts and Survival Research Laboratories Contemplates a Million Inconsiderate Experiments.

SRL can be seen to be very influential to the Robot Wars / Battle bots television programs as well as the Burning Man style festivals. Both share a large amount of watered down ideas and aesthetics with many past SRL performances. Whether this was a direct influence or a coincidence is obvious. SLR is the independent pioneers in this movement and derivative movements owe their origins to the ground breaking concepts developed by Mark Pauline and his SRL crew.