Key Sentence:
- The British robot, which uses a camera and robotic arm to create abstract art, was released after Egyptian authorities caught it at customs.
- Y-Yes, named after mathematician Ada Lovelace, was confiscated last week by border guards who fear their robots might hide hidden spy tools.
Officials held the robot for ten days, with unprecedented plans to showcase his work at the Great Pyramid of Giza on Thursday. The British Embassy in Cairo told the it was “satisfied” that the case had been resolved. “The embassy is pleased that the robot artist Ai-Da has been cleared,” reads a message from the embassy. “Customs procedures can be lengthy and necessary before any artwork or IT equipment is imported.”
According to creator Aidan Meller, border officials confiscated I-Da because they suspected the modem before causing problems with the camera. Mr. Meller suggested removing the modem but said he couldn’t remove the camera, necessary for ID paint capabilities. The robot uses AI algorithms to turn what its camera captures into works of art.
“I can do without a modem, but I can’t take my eyes off them,” he told the Guardian.
The work is part of the first exhibition of contemporary art in the Egyptian pyramids for 4,500 years. Both I-Da and his statue were shipped to Cairo in special air freight boxes ahead of the Forever Now exhibition. Which runs through November 7. His clay sculpture interprets the Greek riddle Sphinx. What happens to four feet in the morning, two feet in the day, and three at night? A person will go through childhood, adulthood, and finally old age with a stick.
His interpretation of the famous Greek mysteries is the three-legged sculpture by I-Da. Ai-Da was completed in 2019, and his art, which includes the first “No Self-Portrait,” can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum of Design and Museum in London.