CONVERGENCE & SPOTSHOTBEUYS

For the Shanghai exhibition, Silke Grabinger created the dance performance "CONVERGENCE", involving two humans— herself and Theresa Scheinecker—and two robots, "Spot" and a robotic vacuum cleaner. Both robots respond to infrared light via sensors, facilitating a choreographed encounter between human and machine. The performance stages a form of communication that renders the robots seemingly capable of decision-making, creating the illusion of emotional proximity. Through dance, the inherent diversity of entities appears to dissolve. This piece envisions a transcendent connection between human and machine, which is further explored and intensified in "SPOTSHOTBEUYS".

In 2024, exactly 50 years after Joseph Beuys' iconic action "I Like America & America Likes Me" (1974), Silke Grabinger presents "SPOTSHOTBEUYS " at the Venice Biennale.

Silke Grabinger’s "SPOTSHOTBEUYS " reinterprets Beuys’ action in a multifaceted and ironic manner. In this performance, she confronts the robotic dog "Spot", a symbol of contemporary technological innovation. Silke Grabinger relocates the discourse on hierarchy, coexistence, and mutual taming to the present day, dramatizing the tense, intricate relationship between humanity and cutting-edge technology. Through this encounter, she unveils deep-seated desires and needs, reflecting the same patterns found in human relationships, projected onto an artificial counterpart. Ultimately, the utopian vision of profound connection shatters against reality—most strikingly when Silke Grabinger symbolically disconnects "Spot" by removing its battery, exposing the inescapable reliance of technology on human agency.

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