Agnieszka Pilat calls herself a ‘propaganda artist’ for robots. But when those machines are sold to governments, police and military, what’s the line between art and an ad?
  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The artist is completely focused, a black oil crayon in her hand as she repeatedly draws a small circle on a vibrant teal canvas.

    She is unbothered by the three people closely observing her every movement, and doesn’t seem to register my entrance into this bright white room inside the National Gallery of Victoria.

    You’ve likely seen videos of these dogs opening doors, climbing stairs and decorating Christmas trees, while performing eerily fluid actions that cause people to write comments like, “Can’t wait to have a pack of these chase me through a post-apocalyptic urban hellscape!” The robots are designed to perform tasks that are dangerous for humans: they tend to be bought by mining and construction corporations, as well as police and the military.

    You may have also seen them enforcing social distancing in Singapore, delivering food to hostages during a home invasion in Queens, dancing in a baseball stadium in Japan, or even in an episode of The Book of Boba Fett.

    From next week, three Spots named Basia, Vanya and Bunny will begin a four month residency at the NGV’s Triennial in Melbourne, where they will be creating art in their purpose-built studio.

    Basia is “the serious one”, completely focused on her painting; Vanya is the “mother of the group” who will pace around the space observing; and Bunny is a show-off who will, according to her programming, frequently wander over to pose in a window specially designed for selfies.

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