Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Moaning Robot Heads Shatter Psyches at Miami Art Basel

by Terrence O'Brien on December 7, 2009 at 10:55 AM

We've seen tons of terrifying bots here at Switched: the tiny goose-stepping, vaguely racist Ropid; a convulsing, swine flu simulating, artificial cadaver; and most recently, a robotic school girl that dances like a marionette possessed. But all of these horrors pale in comparison to the $75,000 piece of art by Nathaniel Mellor on display at Art Basel Miami Beach 2009.

The work features three horrifying disembodied heads (video after the break) that, thanks to computer-controlled servos and a set of speakers, "sing."

Our own Leila Brillson had traveled down to the show to see what's what, and we sent her a text ASAP: "Check out Mellor's stuff at Lombard-Fried Gallery... now." Then we sat back to wait for her nightmares to begin. Unfortunately, she was unable to report on the work from Mellor, as she was reduced to a hysterical heap, cowering in the corner, within 10 seconds of laying eyes on the horrible heads. We did manage to get a quote out of her, between the sobbing and hyperventilating: "What you guys don't see is the fact that they don't really sing. They moan, like possessed hell-fiends, coming after your bowels with a vengeance. Low rumbling. And the waxy faces... "

If you want to ensure that you have night terrors for the rest of your life, the video is embedded below. As for Leila, the doctors say she should be fine after a few rounds of intensive therapy. We can only send our best wishes and hope she gets well soon. [From: Engadget]

Nathaniel Mellor




Tags: art, art basel, ArtBasel, creepy, miami, nathaniel mellor, NathanielMellor, robot, Robots, top

Comments

2

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular