the punishment by filipe vilas-boas and paul coudamy

french artist filipe vilas-boas and architect paul coudamy create this dark humoured installation in which a robot executes a preventive punishment for any possible disobedience in the future. the project is considered as a ‘serious joke’ that borrows american writer and professor isaac asimov’s ‘law of robotics’. the latter states that a machine of such should never injure or attempt to harm a human being. 

‘I… robot’, the start of the punishment 

for this project, filipe vilas-boas has teamed up with paul coudamy to shed light on the incredible speed at which technologies are merging with artificial intelligence. this phenomena raises a whole lot of questions about the relationship between man and machines. tainted with dark humour, this dystopian ‘anthropomorphology’ also underlines the fear that robotics might engender in the future: how automated do we want our world and bodies to be? what physical, moral and legal frameworks should be adopted? what are the potential consequences for human life and ethics? ‘at the turn of the century, questions related to automation are popping up in everyone’s mind. we will have to answers them collectively, if possible’, reveals the artist. 

the punishment
video © filipe vilas-boas

this borrows isaac asimov’s ‘law of robotics’ which states how machines should never harm men

the robot executes a preventive punishment for possible disobediences in the future

just like a human being, the machine is writing down its ‘must not’s’ 

the man-machine relation is highly questioned through this installation

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom