The whole exhibit was wrapped in a futuristic atmosphere with an intimate setting. Neon lights and black tarpaulin created a luminescent and somber atmosphere. A transparent tarpaulin was used to partition the exhibit area into two sections. When the visitor enters the shop, s/he is welcomed by a team member who accompanies the customer throughout the entire guided tour and explains the process of creating the gynoids. The exhibit had several areas: I - A large poster containing a patchwork of posters (above) offered a retrospective of the advent of cybernetics from the 1950s to the current time . II - A simulation area of the exhibit designed as a gynoids shop enabling a role-playing game that allowed visitors to experience the theories mobilised. One of the ladies played the role of the gynoid. The gynoid shop was inspired by the "Wallace Corporation", a direct reference to the film Blade Runner 2049 in which the Wallace Corporation manufactured humanoids on a massive scale that offered specific services such as perfect girlfriend, the perfect wife capable of bearing children and the perfect hostess. To do this, the students looked into Love Dolls that are becoming part of the intimacy of more and more people. There is a fine line between gynoids and Love Dolls. Love Dolls cannot communicate, but they all look the same. They are generally white women with surreal measurements, which is a marker of a great lack of diversity. The students wanted to denounce this lack of diversity as well as the fact that it is mainly male buyers who are driving the tyranny of the "perfect female" companion. 
The gynoid represents a feminine ideal that fuels many fantasies. As the golem-gynoid must satisfy human needs, it also display Wiener’s retroaction qualities inherent in cybernetics by constantly learning and adjusting its reactions. There is an expectation that in the future, these intelligent machines will be able to anticipate our emotional and physiological needs and will be able to surpass our intelligence. This "fear of an imbalance in the power of the living over a device" runs through this artwork around the question “Should Man fear the machine? » The exhibition sought to make this fear palpable for the visitor. But it was also important not to influence visitor’s view on the effect of AI and humanoids. |
This exhibit raised the question of the impact of a robotic technological development seen as a means of communication between man and machine but also of domination. An increasingly sensitive and thorny subject. And with good reason. Robotics is constantly pushing the boundaries to create super beings that are being introduced everywhere: in the workplace, in research, in the medical sector, in sports, arts and culture but also more worryingly, into the private sphere (silver economy for instance). This exhibit was an opportunity to discuss the theme of the golem, and excessive automation and the uncertain future that singularity has in store for humanity. Is the idea of larger-than-life women being part of our daily lives a cause for concern? Should we fear the perfecting of machines as Norbert Wiener predicted? What are the consequences of fabricating personalised humans? Will these gynoids relegate us to the status of sub-humans overtaken by technology? Predictably, this artwork showcases Wiener's cybernetics theory, especially his fear of machines taking over the control of life from humans. The aim was to make the visitor think about these questions and even feel uncomfortable. In this, the artwork was an unqualified success! 
|
