The Hybrid Society
(2019)
With the rise of the social media influencer, and the many who follow them, a self perpetuating loop has been created existing mainly in a virtual space, accessible primarily through small glass rectangles. The physical embodiment of this loop, influencers and consumers, humans and devices, have become hybridised into man-machines. Their obsession with their devices and themselves knows no bounds as they walk amongst us.
Always connected, yet somewhat separated from the world around them, these performative robotic sculptures use dark humour and absurdity to reflect and highlight the growing obsession with online personas and the technology that draws our attention from dawn to dusk.
These 3 roving sculptures incorporate video, sound, light, robotic and mechanical movement as they move amongst audiences and directly interact, sometimes as a group, sometimes apart. Two of the sculptures, the influencers, standing approximately 2 metres tall, walk in a constant state of selfie taking, whilst a family of 3 ride their Loungeroom Utility Vehicle (LUV), swiping continuously on their phones.
“The Hybrid Society” premiered at Robotronica 18-08-2019.
“The Hybrid Society” has been commissioned by Experimenta and Robotronica and assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.