Selma Lepart, PhD student | visual artist

Social Anthropology Laboratory, School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (EHESS), LIRMM (Computer Science, Robotics and Microelectronics Laboratory of Montpellier), University of Montpellier

Drawing on the latest research developments in fields such as robotics, cognitive science, materials chemistry, biology… would it be possible to create – without directing it – a tangible work of art that evolves in an exhibition space and which interacts with the public by expressing a form of autonomy? Autonomy, in this context, characterizes the ability of the work (understood here as an “independent organism”) to develop in an ecosystem and find ways to maintain itself as an acting entity without outside help. This possibility would lead to wondering about the relationship of the work to its creator and its public and about the possibility of defining life through relational characteristics, and not only biological ones.

Keywords

Contemporary art, Autonomy, Robotics | Surveys, Experiments | contemporary art world