'Between States' wanders through the haze of regional complexities

Filipino artist Ian Carlo Jaucian applies science and robotics in his artistic process. His work Viral Automata – an interactive exhibition - is on show at the Between States exhibition at Our ArtProjects in Kuala Lumpur. Photos: Our ArtProjects

Little robots, like radio-controlled buggies, roam about. With computers and machines such an integral part of our lives today, encountering Ian Carlo Jaucian’s Viral Automata at the Between States art exhibition may feel like walking into any ordinary electronics showroom. Until the computer virus he created attacks the automatons and the infected robots “explode” in arresting glows and peculiar movements, that is.

The automata are intended to evoke how a lifeform reacts to “mutually chaotic entities”, or viruses. But as Jaucian explains, he is aiming for the “perfect virus” – one that would not kill the robots, but, rather, boost their “immunity” and give them a new lease of life.