The Hybrid Society: The Influencers
(2019)
Two flamboyantly dressed television-headed robotic humanoids strut through the crowd infatuated with their hand-fused devices. Brand ambassadors, influencers and rampant digital consumers, these walking commodities have succumbed to their base functions and become hybridised man-machines, their bodies melding with the technology they depend upon.
With ostensible autonomy, these vibrant larger than life robotic sculptures parade a spectacle from afar as well as intimately interact with audience members at close range. Their faces emote with sound and video as their heads, arms and legs articulate simulation of human movement. Are they real? Are they robots?
Always connected, yet somewhat separated from the world around them, these performative robotic sculptures use dark humour and absurdity to reflect and highlight the ongoing obsession with online personas and the technology that has transformed our real world landscape.