When Machine and Humans become
one entity - How an exhibition
revolution how visitors see robots
Five years after the first presentation of the exhibition “Hello, Robot. Design between Human and Machine” at the Vitra Design Museum, the exhibition travelled extensively in Europe and the World. Thus, the curator of the exhibition Amelie Klein presented more then 200 works, coming from science fiction, everyday object, drones, robots for people in disabilities, etc.
In the first presentation of the exhibition in 2017, the exhibition was widely successful, due to the theme of the exhibition and the time of its presentation, when we started to use more and more robotic stuffs in our life: Siri, virtual intelligence, sport watch, sensors, automated cars and electric cars, etc. But compared to 2017, the 2022 version of the show is complemented by the research made between 2017 and 2022, the second version of the exhibition catalog and new works.
In the other hand, the layout of the show didn't really change. The show is still separated in four big sections and fourteen questions: Have you ever met a Robot? What was your first experience with a Robot? Do we really need Robots? Are Robots our friends or enemies? Do you trust Robots? Could a Robot do your job? Do you want to become a producer yourself? How much do you want to rely on "smart" helpers? How do you feel about objects having feelings? Do you believe in the death and rebirth of things? Do you want a Robot to take care of you? Do you want to live inside a Robot? Do you want to become better than nature intended? Are Robots advancing evolution?
Iconic works or ideas of the time as now become part of our everyday life. Looking at the app to find our nearest store or train station, using Siri or Alexa to ask for a reminder or to put a timer, use 5G everywhere for anything and everything, using AI for our filter on Instagram, etc. All of those examples illustrate how much our lives are already permeated by robots, even in the most intimate domains
4 sections - 4 kind of humans
The exhibition is deconstructed into four different spaces, fourteen questions and numerous artists such as: Woody Allen, Björk, Jan De Coster, Disney/Pixar Animation Studios, ECAL, etc.
The first part of the exhibition is presented as a “cabinet de curiosité”, full of small, big and intriguing objects complemented with archival works. It shows the enthusiasm for artificial humans and how popular culture shaped our idea of what a robot should do and should looked.
The second section of the exhibition is dedicated to the link between the industry, robot and the creation of works of arts. Today, the workers are easily replaced by robots, who create stuff but also who manifest something such as the one from the group RobotLab, in which a robot produces manifestos on a continuous basis and thus questions the boundaries between human creativity and the automation of work.
In the other hand, machines are also producing works of arts and everyday objects with the technique of 3D printing. From chairs, small-scale models for architecture and project, etc.
The third part of the exhibition show how we can have a close relationship to our online friend and technology. In this part, the robots are helpers of our everyday life. They care for use, they help us to remind something, to take decision, to create a shopping list or to call friends.
Now, we use 10.000 apps to contact our friends, send photos, create link to new people, date, seduce someone, have a hook-up or just to be happy.
The final part of the exhibition focus on the fusion between the man and the robotics, for example when we use digital maps such as Google Maps, when we live in a "smart" home, our print, our photos, our robots created for disable persons, etc.
Informations about the exhibition
Place: Vitra Design Museum
Date: 24.9.2022 – 5.4.2023
Curators: Amelie Klein
Ticket: Available at the front desk of the museum
Informations about the Vitra Design Museum
Vitra Design Museum
Charles-Eames-Str 2
D-79576 Weil am Rhein
Phone: +49 76 21 702 3200
Fax: +49 76 21 702 3590
Mail: info@design-museum.de