We are pleased to announce that Robots in Distress by boredomresearch is included in the exhibition AI and the Paradox of Agency at Bildmuseet, Umeå University, Sweden (13 March 2026 – 17 January 2027). The exhibition brings together international artists examining how agency, human and machine, is negotiated, contested and embodied in the age of artificial intelligence. We are exhibiting alongside significant practitioners including Rachel Maclean, Tega Brain, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Lauren Lee McCarthy, Lawrence Lek and Raqs Media Collective, among others.
Robots in Distress (2017) is a simulation of autonomous underwater agents navigating a polluted marine environment, foregrounding themes of fragility, emergent behaviour and the emotional projection we place on technological systems. Its inclusion highlights the work’s continuing relevance within current debates around AI, autonomy and ecological systems.
Curated by Sarah Cook and Katarina Pierre, the exhibition runs until 17 January 2027. The exhibition is produced by Bildmuseet with support from Jacob Wallenberg Foundation, WASP-HS (Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program – Humanity and Society), funded by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation and the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation.