Julia Zamboni: Robot Ludens (2017)

»Robot Ludens« is an exploration of machines as players. Robots are notably ambiguous artistic performers that seem to operate between the realms of the living and the nonliving. The audience knows that they are nonliving objects blindly following formal rules, and at the same time perceives them as empathetic living characters, capable of playful interactions and other kinds of emotional states.

The machine diptych is composed of two panels with the same fundamental elements: a spider-like robot and a rectangular touchscreen, which displays a tessellation structure made of triangular cells that can be either black or white. The shape of the robots is mimicked on the screens to represent their shadows on both surfaces. The two panels display isomorphic cubic spaces in which the robots and shadows interact. The spider-like robot and its shadow make reference to the elements in the work of the French-American artist Louise Bourgeois.

Sponsors: Hexagram and TAG (Technoculture, Art, and Games)

The artist is part of the international network Hexagram. The collective is dedicated to research-creation in the fields of media arts, design, technology and digital culture based in Montreal (CA) and consists of over 80 members.

The artwork »Robot Ludens« has been on display until January 9, 2018. 

Video documentary:

ZKM | Videostudio

Camera: Martina Rotzal
Editing: Bastian Buchgraber