Calyx

Bodily relics in the form of skins garments. Each garment bears unique scars resulting from the manipulations of an artificially intelligent robot named Amygdala.

Calyx (2019) is a sculptural installation of variable dimensions composed of floating skin garments. Each skin is unique and bears specific traces and scars caused by the operations of an AI robot named Amygdala. The skins are in fact the relics of the robot’s performance. During a months-long exhibition, Amygdala uses a steel metal knife to carefully cut and sculpt the skin, without any particular goal other than learning to cut.

In the beginning, a skin is soft and malleable, enabling Amygdala to sculpt it with relatively little effort. However, as the time passes, the skin dries up, eventually reaching a state of complete hardness. This makes it materially impossible for Amygdala to continue its work. Only at this point, the skin is removed from Amygdala‘s nest and stored for inclusion in Calyx.

 

The skins are the result of combined activity by the human artist and the autonomous robot. The initial, intact skin garment is first created by Donnarumma by hand, using a particular compound of organic materials designed by the artist to resemble human skin as closely as possible. The artist’s bodily hairs are also embedded in the skins.

When ready, the skin is hung on the body of the Amygdala, which then begins its inexorable operation of skin-cutting. Being dependent on an architecture of neural networks – a method used to embed machines with limited ‘learning’ skills –  the cutting movements of Amygdala cannot be predicted and vary greatly across each performance. The skins are therefore bodily relics testifying to the computational agency of the machine.

Readings

Cianciotta, A.
Amygdala, AI-led body politics
Neural Magazine

Bucknell, A.
Do Androids Dream of Contemporary Art?
Elephant Art Magazine

Donnarumma, M.
Amygdala
What if it won’t stop here?, eds. Daniel Pies and Jan Verwoert. Berlin: Archive Books, 2018

Exhibitions

  • Art + Science Meetings | Beyond Borders – Group Exhibition
    Curated by Ryszard Kluszczyński, Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, PL, 2019
  • Posthuman Beauty – Group Exhibition
    Curated by Maria Morata, Centre del Carme, Valencia, ES, 2019
  • What if it won’t stop here? – UdK Group Exhibition
    Curated by Jan Voerwert, Archive Kabinett, Berlin, DE, 2018

Credits

Marco Donnarumma – Concept, research, materials
Amygdala – Sculpture
Jan Verwoert – Artistic mentorship
Berlin University of the Arts, Graduiertenschule – Funding
Einstein Stiftung – Funding
Berlin Center for Advanced Studies in Arts and Sciences – In kind support
Baltan Laboratories – In kind support / Dissemination