As a manifestation of the I, Robot theme, the 2018 Man base experience will offer an exploration of humankind’s decidedly mixed feelings about algorithmic intelligence, cybernetic augmentation, and the mystery of what it means to be human in an increasingly automated world.

The 2018 Man will be positioned atop an enormous gear, a nod to the passing machine age wherein were forged many of our hopes and fears about artificial life. Inside the structure, murals and bas-relief panels, ancient and modern in aspect, will trace the progression of our enduring fascination with robots, from the primordial golem to the post-work future.

By night, a phantasmagoria of AI-themed imagery will be projection-mapped onto the Pavilion’s interior walls. Australian artist Joe Crossley and his AstralProjekt & Heckler team will be producing and curating a collection of media art exploring emerging ideas of coexistence between man and machine: IAMAI.

IAMAI is legal declaration of coexistence between man and machine, formed as a living AI media art installation that will show you visions of the AI future, featuring artists from around the world each night after sunset. The ethos is to create audio visual ceremonial space where we can acknowledge and celebrate the declaration of coexistence between man and machine implanting metadata of the declaration in everything you see and hear. Join us and make peace with your robot brothers and sisters.

Digital media artists are encouraged to submit files to the IAMAI project team for consideration and possible inclusion. More information is available at the IAMAI web portal. The submission deadline for contributing artists is Midnight Pacific Time on August 15, 2018.

As a crowning touch to this year’s Pavilion experience, high atop the gear’s upper viewing platform, a dozen fanciful robots, cyborgs, androids and mandroids will stand vigil around the Man. These “BurnBots” are destined to go up in flames on Burn Night, perhaps to achieve a fleeting singularity with the Burning Man.

Thanks and grateful appreciation to the artists whose work was selected for this year’s Man Pavilion:

Annabel Lee Allen (Ashland, OR): Robotopod Inclusions

Nicole Balestrere (Las Vegas, NV): Xochipilli

Gogo Bernhard (Vienna, Austria): Soundscape

Kelly Smith Cassidy (South Lake Tahoe, CA): Creu Hudol (“Magical Being”)

Aileen Cormack (Santa Rosa, CA): AndroBot: Making Garbage Great Again

Joseph Crossley & AstralProjekt/Heckler (Australia): IAMAI

John Cruz & Sebastopol Catbot Collective (Sebastopol, CA): Catbot

Tyler Garrett & Synchronous Artists (Wichita, KS): Prognostication Protocol

Alexander Griffin (Portland, OR): Squidartha

Leland Johnson & Black Rock Robotics (Casper, WY): Mel’s Makerbot

Andrew Johnstone (Oakland, CA): Murals, Craic

Tricia Kelly (Oakhurst, CA): I, Musician

Leonid Kim (Moscow, Russia): Cyber Fossils

Chelsi Linderman (Lehi, UT): Robot Gothic

Anna-Gaelle Marshall & Dusty Visions (Portland, OR): Robot Family

Dana Mosiman (Sedgwick, KS): Wendigo Electrafryed

David Normal (Stinson Beach, CA): Succubus

Kate Raudenbush (New York, NY): Future’s Past Circuitry Patterns

Marco Turrubiartes (San Diego, CA): Killbot No More

Trevor Twist (Oakland, CA): Bare Heart

Top image by Andrew Johnstone