If you’re nervous, you may want to skip this article. It’s about some of the scariest robots to ever walk this earth. Except for this one maybe.
As part of a new art exhibition at Art Basel Miami, the robot dogs feature disturbingly lifelike copies of the heads of some of the biggest names in tech – think Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. Art legends Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso also appear.
But it gets even stranger. Part of an exhibition called Normal animalsThe camera-equipped robots walk around a small enclosure before occasionally crouching down to pull out an AI-generated Polaroid-like print that shows the people watching. Each time this happens, an LED indicator on the dog’s back will display the message “Poop Mode.”
Visitors can pick up one of the “poops,” or certificates, stating that the artwork was “tested and verified as 100% pure, non-GMO, organic dog poop from the anus of a medium-sized adult dog.”
The bizarre exhibition is the work of digital artist Mike Winkelmann – better known as Beeple – who is known for his grotesque, satirical 3D artwork and animations that combine pop culture, politics and dystopian themes. He’s also the guy who made a whopping $69 million from his NFT sales Everyday life: The first 5000 days in 2021.
“What if the act of viewing art was no longer a one-sided encounter, but rather part of a feedback loop in which the artwork observes, learns, and remembers us in return?” says Beeple of his latest installation, apparently referring to the robot’s poop.
In comments reported by The Art Newspaper, Beeple added: “This is AI reinterpreting the images and what the humanoid sees. There is an analogy: We will increasingly see the world through AI. We also see the world through the lens of artists and technology leaders like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, who probably shape what we see more than anyone else.”
If you’re near Miami and want to see these robot dogs in person, you’ll want to hurry up. Normal animals runs until Sunday, December 7th, in Art Basel’s new digital art space Zero 10.
