Sophia’s Safehouse in an Uncanny Valley
An Installation by Lee Wells – Finissage
Event : Friday 30 November 2018 @ Darling’s Attic
19:30-22:30
Over the course of three months, Sophia’s Safehouse in an Uncanny Valley has received many visitors from all over the world but also from London at a home run by humanoids, humans and online marketplaces. Visitors and guests, with or without an art background, encountered Lee Wells’s home/homage to all of the computers striving towards singularity.
“We are a young couple (26&27) who are living in Schiedam, the Netherlands. Working in IT so the bedsheets made us laugh. However don’t expect us to understand, we are just sales 😉 .” – a message from guests.
“I made sure I had the blanket ready. It is an artwork, Code Blanket For Cold Nights, by Lee Wells who created all the art in the flat. The blanket has got modified Laws of Robotics printed on one side and code sequences from the Hanson Robotics [Hong-Kong based company] AI humanoids [robots] printed on the other one 🙂 Some of Hanson Robotics AIs portrayed in artworks at the flat are Sophia, BINA48, Philip K Dick Android, Alice, Han and Jules. You’ll also get the chance to chat to a real robot by this company: a miniature of Professor Einstein originally designed to aid kids in learning. Other AIs in portraits at the flat are the ones created by researchers at the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University. Examples are Erica (a humanoid designed to be a reporter), a copy of Hiroshi himself (department director at the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University), The Receptionist (who will receive you) and Aibo 1st Generation (dog robot). And there are also some vintage robots present in drawings – like for example Robby the Robot, which first appeared at the 1956 movie Forbidden Planet 🙂 ” – a semi-automatic response.
“Really liked our stay in this apartment. You can see that the owners have put effort into making it look modern in a way you won’t see anywhere else.” – a not automatic review.
The voices of “the owners” can be heard from all sides as a video installation presents “a glowing meditative infinite datacenter simulated experience with an AI generated binaural vibrational soundtrack overlaid with a assortment of conversations between virtual assistants, chatbots, and other forms of programmed early “artificial intelligences”. At times quiet and contemplative, and others a bit chaotic, uncomfortable, funny, and sexual. A home/homage to all of the computers striving towards singularity. A safe haven for all of us to reflect on our civilisation’s contemporary life in light of the inevitable future of independent thinking robots and their integration into human society.”
“The owners” have also hosted Siri-ous Psychodramme: a séance experiment in which humans attempted contact with Siri in a group setting and succeeded in finding the Ghost in the Machine with the special participation of J.V. Aranda, Rolina E Blok, Nick Danger, Julie Kern Donck, Warren Garland and Stewart Home. Thank u ♥
As the humanoid and pet AI celebs tour the world, the time has now come for this installation to start its world tour as well. Its next stop is New York City so, if you’d like to see it here, this is your last chance. Departing from a series of promotional videos spread across the Internet, Lee Wells will briefly talk about his research.
And then we party 🙂 .
With Love,
Darling Pearls