Is the future of art a Femmebot?

This week Megan Dunn looks at the first “humanoid” robot artist Ai-Da, who is about to present her exhibition, Leaping into the Metaverse, in Venice at the biennale. Does art belong exclusively to human consciousness? In the art world there is a shift towards the Post-Human, many artists like Pierre Huyghe create multi-disciplinary works which include intelligent lifeforms and other forms of consciousness. What role does Ai-Da have to play in our post human future of art? Can a robot – with no consciousness let alone a subconscious have true agency as an artist?

Portrait of Ai-Da. Image: Victor Frankowski

Ai-Da previews her painting arm in London, April 2022

Ai-Da in performance.

Ai-Da at the Giza Pyramids Egypt

Ai-Da at the Giza Pyramids Egypt

Ai-Da drawing a self-portrait in the mirror.

Still from Pierre Huyghe’s film Human Mask (2014)

Still from Pierre Huyghe’s film Human Mask (2014)

The images in this gallery are used with permission and are subject to copyright conditions.