ARTWORK DETAILS

David Aston
Rolling with Humanity (Resistance is futile)
6 attest you are human dice, plastic test tubes, brass resistors and antique resistance box
22 H x 25 W x 10.5 D CM
2019

FURTHER DETAILS

Rolling with humanity (resistance is futile) came from the research for attest you are human roll for humanity. I found the fact that we had reached the point in human evolution where we had to attest our humanity to machines on a daily basis profound. The fact that while doing so we educated google's artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for free was just ironic (google CAPTCHA and ReCaptcha). I wanted to make a sculpture that was equally random, ironic and maybe a little bit surreal.

The starting point was the attest you are human dice, which I wanted to incorporate into a machine, something mechanical that mirrored the subject robot / bot subject matter. Through my research I found some fascinating early 20th century dice poppers or ‘trade stimulators’ as they were sometimes called. The kind of thing that you would find in a grocery store or bar in the 1920’s. I had used antique one arm bandits in ULO and other attest you are human works and I loved the mechanical / humanity hybrid play. Plus the tubes resembled test tubes, a visual reference to the experimentation that is taking place in the test tubes of biotechnology.

I used the sub title resistance is futile partly partly because it was a play on the function of the original object, a resistance box, a test instrument which use a series of resistors, capacitors, or inductors to simulate very specific electrical values. The resistors, once inside the machine, are now prominently displayed within the tubes, influencing and testing the outcome of the dice. The choice of title was also partly a playful reference to science fiction and the invading aliens in Star Trek (the Borg) who sought to assimilate the biological and technological uniqueness of humans into the their own culture,. “You will be assimilated - resistance is futile”. The parallel was too tempting as it matched many of the dystopian fears or early science fiction and the 2018 New York attestations.

The sculpture is therefore a simulator that tests how we roll, or gamble, with humanity through the development of AI. However, the machine is purely symbolic as it does not function. The dice and outcome will always remain in suspended animation - just as we do not know the answer to how the balance between human intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI) will pan out. Technology will continue to advance in pursuit of economic outcomes and will not stop in response to cultural resistance - resistance is futile.

What hangs in the balance is the outcome for humanity and human evolution. At at a time when many shine a spotlight on the potential risks of AI (Stephen Hawkin, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, philosophers and scientists alike) and debate the implications for the future of humanity. Will, AI surpass human intelligence? Will we make technologies to augment ourselves and improve our intelligence? How soon could some of these developments come and what will that mean for societies today, tomorrow?

EXHIBITIONS

2022 - Kühlhaus, Berlin
BBA Gallery Art Prize

2020 - York Art Gallery - The 2020 Aesthetica Art Prize
https://aestheticamagazine.com/artists-profiles-2020/

PUBLICATIONS

2022 - Aesthetica Art Prize Future Now Anthology
2020 - Aesthetica Art Prize Future Now Anthology