'THE ROBOT IS NOT AN ARTIST'

dec 4 2026

where

Galerie Camille

address

4130 Cass Ave Stuite C, Detroit, MI 48201

visit

Free and open to the public. Friday only.

follow

A group show of works from AURA's summer 2025 study, in which eight Detroit-area abstract artists each painted three sessions with another artist and three with a six-axis robot arm holding a brush. Each artist chose one canvas from each pairing. The robot ran a fixed sequence of strokes and could neither see the canvas nor hear its partner; every decision that made the work worth looking at was human. Visitors are invited to guess which paintings came from a human partner and which from the robot, and to reflect on what led them to that decision. The show draws on the artists' own reflections from the diaries they kept after each session. All works are lent by, and belong to, the artists.

team

schedule

4:00pm doors open | exhibition viewing & authorship reflection
5:30pm live painting performance
6:00pm roundtable discussion with artists & researchers
7:00pm audience experience painting with the robotic arm
8:00pm doors close

live demo

The study's robot could not see its partners. This one can. We invite you to don a pair of eye-tracking glasses and the robot will immediately start responding to your gaze. It will paint beside you on an eight-foot canvas, moving to wherever your gaze settles to create with you on an area of the canvas which draws your attention. While one person is co-creating with the robot, others are invited to paint elsewhere on the canvas without glasses, and the most heavily used color will dictate the robot's next color choice.