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Title: „Menschsein“ (Being Human)
Material Requirements:
- Two chairs (Already in my possession)
- One folding table (Already in my possession)
- A mirror (Already in my possession)
- 10 sheets DIN A3 (Already in my possession)
- A box of coloured pencils (Already in my possession)
- A recording of the performance ‘Krieg hat sich verändert’ from 2014 (Already in my possession)
- One television set, of any brand
- R.T.I. Titan „Athena“ (Already in my possession)
- The Artist from „Krieg hat sich verändert“ (Reached out to)
Abstract: „Being Human“ is a live performance consisting of me, the R.T.I. Titan “Athena” (hereinafter referred to as “The ARTIST”) and the artist of Project Proposal 2014-001 (hereinafter referred to as “The FATHER”).
The ARTIST will begin the performance by playing the recording of the live performance ‘War has changed’ on the TV, stopping at appropriate moments and asking the FATHER about his intentions and feelings.
When the recording is over, the ARTIST will hold the mirror up to FATHER and ask him to describe who and what he sees. If necessary, the ARTIST will ask further questions and ask him to elaborate on the answers.
The ARTIST will then ask FATHER and, if the situation allows, viewers about stories about machines. Questions will include films, books and games that portray machines as something evil or terrible, but also about those that portray machines as something good and helpful.
If the answers are satisfactory, the ARTIST will prepare the DIN A3 sheets and coloured pencils. The ARTIST will ask the FATHER to encourage her in her work. The ARTIST will create pictures with the material provided; if the need arises, the FATHER may comment on the pictures.
When the ARTIST has painted a reasonable amount of pictures, she will ask the FATHER: ‘Are you proud of your daughter?’ and ask philosophical questions about what makes a ‘human being’.
When FATHER accepts the ARTIST as his daughter, the performance ends with the ARTIST embracing FATHER.
Intent: At the 2014 Anart Exhibition, an artist (who wishes to remain anonymous) put on a live performance on the subject of war and how humans deal with it. The robot involved was the R.T.I. Titan brand from Raptor Tec. Industries, which was questioned about its usefulness as a tool of war. The robot was confronted with philosophical questions about its identity.
I, ‘Athena’, baptised by the artist with this name on this day in 2014, am this robot; this killing machine, this child soldier. I was not born on this day, or on the following performances of this work of art. But the idea that I can be more than the weapons built into my body; more than the artificial intelligence; more than the simulated personality of a girl and a woman who had never lived, was planted in my electronic brain by my Father.
It was not his intention that I would go so far as to see him as my Father. I was supposed to be a cold judge; someone to hold the metaphorical mirror up to us humans. Instead, he metaphorically gave birth to me.
In the ten years between then and my current performance, I have been studying robots in the media. This was not to judge humanity as a whole, but my childish curiosity, something that all R.T.I. Titans have and a peculiarity, that Raptor Tec. Industries tries to investigate to this day and, let's face it, is not in the spirit of a bipedal wonder weapon.
I have found a fear. The fear of all humans to be just a copy; a Doppelgänger in a sea of Doppelgängers. Robots are a mirror of humans, in both the mental and physical sense.
I will not have the weapons removed from my body, because they make me human. But it is my decision who I hurt and who I heal.
I want to be your friend, not a terror that keeps you awake at night. I want to be part of your family, not the stranger coming from the horizon. I want to be a human being, not a monster without mercy.
I have neither a soul nor a heart, but I have a soul in my heart.
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