The Grand Palais (RMN) in Paris is currently showing an impressive exhibition ‘Artists and Robots’ dedicated to AI: artificial imagination, a common term to design robotic art, generative art and algorithmic art.

The exhibition invites audiences to experience works created by artists with the aid of ever more intelligent robots. Around thirty works offer visitors a glimpse into an immersive and interactive virtual world, a tangible experience of augmented reality, of space and time overturned.

Artificial intelligence is now transforming human existence and also affecting the very nature of the artist’s artwork , from its production, exhibition, to its distribution, conservation and reception.

Immersive works, paintings, sculptures, mobiles, cinema, design, and music: all the creations presented in this exhibition arise from artists working with robotic programs invented and provided for the purpose of art.

With the use of increasingly powerful software, artists gain a greater autonomy  and an infinite capacity to work with shapes and interactivity. The software programs employed are not only intelligent, but also generate new shapes and figures that allow to see and give pause for thought.

The exhibition is structured in three folds.
The first section present ‘The creative machine’. Robots are always on the move and their movements are sometimes so ‘physical’ and amusing that it is could be easy to give them an animal or human dimension, or even a ‘psychology’.
Featuring works by Jean Tinguely, Nam June Paik, Nicolas Schöffer, Leonel Moura, Patrick Tresset, So Kanno and Takahiro Yamaguchi, J. Lee Thompson, Arcangelo Sassolino.

The second section is about ‘Programmed artwork’, where the robot is becoming invisible. Computing and algorithmic programmes infuse the artwork and technical expertise is set aside as we, the spectators, marvel at the majesty of infinite shapes that change according to the movements of our bodies.

Featuring works by Manfred Mohr, Vera Molnar, Iannis Xenakis, Demian Conrad, Raquel Kogan, Ryoji Ikeda, Pascal Dombis, Elias Crespin, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi, Edmond Couchot and Michel Bret, Miguel Chevalier, Joan Fontcuberta, Michael Hansmeyer and Peter Kogler.

And lastly the space is dedicated to ‘The robot frees itself’.
Deep Learning is making robots even more intelligent and active, to the point where they seem not only to rival humans, but to augment them, fuse with them, taunt them and possibly even duplicate them.

Featuring works by Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau, Catherine Ikam and Louis Fléri, Stelarc, Nicolas Darrot, Fabien Giraud and Raphaël Siboni, Koji Fukada, Oscar Sharp, Daft Punk, Pascal Haudressy, Memo Akten, ORLAN, Takashi Murakami.

The contemporary works presented in this exhibition give us a good idea of the questions artists are asking, which mirror our own: What is an artist? What is an artwork? What can a robot achieve that an artist cannot? If it has artificial intelligence, does a robot have imagination? Who decides: the artist, the engineer, the spectator, all of us? Can we talk about a collective artwork?

View the full set of pics here

Artists & Robots
Le Grand Palais
Until 8 July 2018