Bot - the artist is tele-present...

Dear Pandemic Times Diary,

Here I am with a nearly 300-square-meter studio, equipped with a digital fabrication lab, a small carpentry workshop, a microbiology lab, and essentially all the materials I could need. This space is entirely mine to use. I’ve decided to join a study group led by Fabio Morais. It’s not the first time I’ve followed his research; in fact, this was a happy coincidence, a reunion of sorts. He once offered a course on artist books, or artistic books, if you will. Now, together with Virgínia de Medeiros, they are offering a virtual study group at the Instituto Tomie Ohtake.

Everyone is online, participating in a series of meetings. In one of these sessions, Fabio made an interesting comment: the face-to-face connection is currently suspended. We are now looking at screens, unable to have that direct eye contact, to look deeply into another person’s eyes. So, what is the best we can do in this moment?

I find myself contemplating this question as I navigate this unique period with my expansive studio and its myriad possibilities.

Creating Dialogue in Isolation: A Performative Experiment

I am someone whose creative process thrives on dialogue, particularly provocative conversations. The people I know and interact with present me with situations and questions that I love to explore, sometimes speculating, sometimes prototyping. When Fabio mentioned that face-to-face connection is currently suspended, I was in my studio, surrounded by materials. I took a 3mm MDF sheet, some spray paint cans, doll eyes, and, of course, equipment like a laser cutter and Arduino.

I programmed a small robot with servo motors that hovers, looking directly into my eyes. As I sit at my computer, living through this remote, pandemic-driven lockdown, I have these eyes moving side to side, engaging in a sort of performative interaction. This made me wonder about Marina Abramović’s intense eye contact with her audience — if she were a bot or a robot, would people still be impacted the same way? Would her performative presence have the same effect if she weren’t physically there?

In my case, this robot is present. My ideas are transmitted and present. Collaboration is still present, even if it’s online.