Underdogs opens 2023 with Halfstudio and Tobias Gutmann
In January, Underdogs opens its doors to two exhibitions that address contemporary themes linked to the complexity of the human condition. In the main space of the Gallery, the Portuguese collective Halfstudio explores the concept of the journey in its dimension as a process of realization. In the Cápsula space, Swiss artist Tobias Gutmann proposes an experience that challenges self-perception and questions our relationship with technology and artificial intelligence.
On Friday the 20th of January, Underdogs opens A Journey, the second solo show by Halfstudio at the Gallery.
After the first exhibition by the duo of Mariana Branco and Emanuel Barreira at the Cápsula space in 2021, this presentation of unpublished works will occupy the main space of the Gallery in Marvila, also counting on the launch of a limited edition. At the same time, Halfstudio is also developing a large-scale public art installation in the parish of Moscavide and Portela, to be inaugurated at the end of January. In turn, the Capsule space will receive “I can do that too!” says the AI, the first solo show by artist Tobias Gutmann in Portugal, which brings us a provocative and avant-garde look at the perception we have of ourselves, art and the relationship with artificial intelligence.
HALFSTUDIO
For the exhibition A Journey, the artist duo takes over the main space of the Underdogs Gallery, transforming it into a journey that takes us back to the different stages of a journey. Through a mapping demarcated on vinyl on the floor, it indicates a trajectory that illustrates the stages we go through to reach the realization of an idea, a dream or a transformation, encompassing both a personal and universal dimension. This route is punctuated by unique pieces that mirror the visual and creative language characteristic of this collective, using volumetric letters and dynamic layouts with vibrant colors and impactful messages that reveal to us the nature and tone of the different stages of the journey. In this way, they invite visitors to experience, live and relive feelings, emotions and states of mind, immersing them in a journey that is as individual as it is collective; which refers both to introspection and to communion.
TOBIAS GUTMANN
In “I can do that too!” says the AI, Swiss artist Tobias Gutmann introduces the public to Sai Bot: an artificial intelligence robot that produces portraits in real time, based on the thousands of drawings that the artist has created since 2012 as part of his Face project -o-mat. From these data, Sai Bot assimilates and learns the formal language and repertoire of the portraits, then proceeds to create its own combinations. The portraits produced represent the pieces in the exhibition, and the process of creating each one is experiential and intimate. The visitor who wants to be drawn by the Sai Bot sits in front of him and enters into a personal interaction with the robot, which speaks, asking questions while processing traits and characteristics, interpreting them in an abstract way. The result is subtle, minimal and unique. Having already passed through institutions such as the Center Pompidou in Paris, the Haus Konstruktiv Museum in Zurich and MUDAM in Luxembourg, through Sai Bot Tobias Gutmann questions whether an artificial intelligence can independently produce something completely new, and what are the possible consequences of this eventuality.
Relevant and current, “I can do that too!” says the AI enters controversial territory, leaving us with a fundamental question: does what man does intuitively, the machine does automatically? The answer lies in the experience of each one. Sai Bot AI software is developed by Dazlus.
