Artspace

The Woman and the Snowman

Mari Velonaki

Exhibition Dates
2 May - 16 June 2013

The Woman and the Snowman is presented in association with ISEA 2013.

Overview

The Woman and the Snowman, a moving image and machinic installation, joins a humanoid robot (Ishiguro, 2007) created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University and a projection depicting a snowman to present two differing allegories of reality. Functioning as an ‘honest’ representation of a fictional being, the snowman becomes seemingly more real than the humanoid woman robot as the artwork unfolds. As an investigation into the boundaries of reality, The Woman and the Snowman comments on the influence technological advancements have had upon mediating relationships.

About the artist

Mari Velonaki is Associate Professor and Director of the recently established Creative Robotics Lab at the National Institute of Experimental Arts, University of NSW. She formerly co-founded the Centre for Social Robotics within the Centre for Field Robotics at the University of Sydney. She was awarded an Australia Council Visual Arts Fellowship in 2007 and an ARC Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship 2009 – 2013.

Mari Velonaki, 'The Woman and the Snowman', 2013, installation view, Artspace, Sydney
Mari Velonaki, 'The Woman and the Snowman', 2013, installation view, Artspace, Sydney
Mari Velonaki, 'The Woman and the Snowman', 2013, installation view, Artspace, Sydney
Mari Velonaki, 'The Woman and the Snowman', 2013, installation view, Artspace, Sydney