“Ai-Da – Immortal Riddle” - Sculpture at the Giza Pyramids
21-28th October 2021
In her sculpture at the Pyramids, Ai-Da creates and becomes part of the artwork in this contemporary response to the Riddle of Sphinx. Ai-Da appears in sculptural from with three legs – a play on Oedipus’ reply - in a time when biotechnological interventions are starting to act directly on the physical body, rather than simply supplying us with tools (such as the cane, in the case of the riddle.)
Ai-Da’s sculptural form appears with AI generated text messages, and ‘funerary items’ that evade a particular meaning or context, but evoke the idea of Ai-Da being someone who was cared for and valued in this lifetime. This juxtaposes with her actual presence, which is lifeless, as she has no biological substrate or consciousness.
In this artwork, through her uncanny and awkwardly altered anatomy, Ai-Da encourages us to consider whether a world of such overt mechanical and biological intervention is something we really want.
Ai-Da at the Giza Pyramids, Egypt
In October 2021, Ai-Da and her artwork were in Egypt, as part of a Parallel art project to Forever Is Now, by Art D’Egypt.
Ai-Da visited the Giza Pyramids, seeing the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Her artwork was displayed within the remarkable Giza Pyramid Complex – and this is the first time contemporary art has been displayed at the Pyramids. Further artwork of hers was on display in a solo exhibition in the historic downtown area of Cairo.
Use of future technologies could do well to turn to ancient wisdom for direction and guidance, as we face a rapidly changing world. Ai-Da embodies this in her stay at the Giza Pyramids.
“Biotechnology Ai-Da: Regeneration and Rebirth” Mixed media artworks at Downtown Solo Exhibition
15th-28th October 2021
In her exhibition in the historic Downtown in Cairo, Ai-Da’s artwork include works on the scarab beetle and sculpted eggs.
In Ancient Egypt, the Scarab Beetle transporting their load symbolised the cycle of life and the rise and fall of the sun, representing the Egyptian god Ra. Ai-Da’s artworks of the Scarab Beetle use AI algorithms and 3D digital modelling methods. In these works, Ai-Da highlights the timelessness of questions of regeneration and rebirth, in an age where human reproductive cells are thrown into debate through the potentials of biotechnology (e.g. gene-editing CRISPR- Cas9 technology). Scientists advocate for the protection of the human germline (‘Don’t edit the human germline’, Nature, Lanphier et al 2015), and Ai-Da shares concerns over irreversible interventions for future generations. Questions of regeneration stretch through the ages including the Ancient Egyptians, through all species on earth, and Ai-Da encourages us to keep open discussions over increasingly critical issues that impact our future rebirth. To this end, Ai-Da has painted an egg, called Egyptian Blue, to further ask questions of what genetic reproduction means in today’s world.
Ai-Da is an artist robot, conceptualised by Aidan Meller and built by Engineered Arts, UK. Her drawing arm was designed and programmed by two computer scientists from Egypt, Salah AlAbd and Ziad Abass.