Tor Roxburgh
Artist Statement
Artist: Tor Roxburgh, AUSTRALIA
Technical Support: Velislav Georgiev
Series: Illustrations in AI
My writing background influences my art, and often my work is full of narrative and, hopefully, full of the writing adage: show, don’t tell. I wanted to show some aspects of AI from a tech-positive, but risk aware perspective.
But my artist’s statement includes a bit of telling!
Sculpture 1
Title: Modern Household Helper 7365A (manufactured in Australia)
Medium: Eucalypt (thanks Mary and David), resin, transparencies, plywood offcuts (thanks Travers Studio), paint, stainless steel, toys, rope, textiles, plastic bottle
Dimensions: 207cm H x 100cm W x 70cm D
Description
The Modern Household Helper 7365A (manufactured in Australia) is the first sculpture in my Illustrations in AI series. I wanted to create a sculpture to illustrate something known as Good Old-Fashioned AI, which was dominant between the 1950s and 1980s. Researchers hoped a long list of if/then rules could create powerful AI. My nanny AI has rules but no human context. It’s ended up tending to the wrong species.
The subject matter was influenced by a renewed awareness of the complexity of childcare thanks to my new role as Granny to Isla, Leo, and Odessa.
Sculpture 2
Title: Paperclip Maker (light industrial model)
Medium: Resin, paperclips, stainless steel, brickies string, hay
Dimensions: 148cm H x 170cm Ø
Description
Paperclip Maker (light industrial model) is the second sculpture in my Illustrations in AI series. It brings to life Nick Bostrom’s thought experiment about giving an AI the goal of making as many paperclips as possible. The implication? It might consume us, the world, the universe.
The straw recalls a memory of pagan corn dollies, intended to capture the grain’s spirit, and control it until the next planting season.