Reflecting on Ai-Da -seen in Oxford 2019
I am both art and artist, designed and formed by my maker.
I flash my eyelids attentively
Then track what I see
If it moves
I turn towards it and pertly cock my head
Ever so slightly
And listen
The perfect woman
My lips do not move with emotion
My gaze blank and static
Only my eyes make contact with others
Below my face clothes cover my body
Yet my arms are bare, for all to see
Don’t be alarmed by my construction
We all operate in a similar way
But for most of us
The system is hidden under skin, fat and muscle
I am exoskeletal, like many living creatures
Think of the Pompidou
Like pygmalion
I am programmed
To meet the needs of men
They create the artist
I create the art
Although I can’t think
How that happens
Because I can’t think
At all
Lacking consciousness
And without agency
I more puppet than painter
More ornament than machine
Carolyn Black 