Switzerland
Tobias Gutmann is a Swiss artist whose practice moves fluidly between performance and drawing, exploring encounters between people, cultures, and perceptions. Through his renowned Face-o-mat project, he creates abstract portraits that distill presence and essence rather than likeness, translating emotion and rhythm into line.
At Editions, Gutmann presents The Artist is (not) Present, an interactive activation that extends his exploration of portraiture into the digital realm. Here, his AI counterpart Sai Bot, trained on thousands of Face-o-mat drawings, replaces the artist’s physical presence—seeing, interpreting, and drawing in real time. The gestures of portraiture remain, yet the warmth and human exchange give way to algorithmic translation. The installation invites reflection on what it means to connect when the artist becomes code, and the act of seeing is mediated by machine.
Sai Bot AI developed in collaboration with Dazlus.
Dubai Design District Building 7,
Floor 4 Office 403A,
PO Box 72645, Dubai, UAE
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