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Petra Gemeinboeck and Rob Saunders, Accomplice, 2010 - 2012.

This ongoing installation embeds advanced, artificially intelligent robots - with the capacity to learn and respond to their environment - into the gallery walls. Each robot is equipped with a motorised punch to transform its environment and express its desires. When left to their own devices these robots break through their confines, perforating the walls with a series of small holes through which they can see, using their camera vision. If the audience is present, the robots watch and follow onlookers through the space, in order to enhance their knowledge and alleviate their own ‘boredom’.

Occasionally they communicate, signaling each other to organise their behaviour and work together. These robots reflect and share some of our human actions, demonstrating a level of autonomy that seems to suggest consciousness, or at the very least, an ability to adapt to their surroundings.

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts.