Art in the age of machines
When does a machine become art? For artist Conrad Shawcross, the answer lies somewhere between science, rope, and the unknowable future. In this edition of Visionary, Georgina Godwin meets Conrad at Here East, where his monumental new piece Umbilical will be on display before moving to its permanent home at MONA in Tasmania.
A swirling 12-metre chandelier of colour, motion and meaning, Umbilical draws on 25 years of experimentation with geometry, mechanics, and metaphor. It’s sculpture as orrery, physics lesson and poem — all powered by a single motor.
In conversation, Conrad reflects on why unpredictability matters, how artists should approach public commissions, and what black holes can teach us about imagination.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
Why the best public art responds to its environment — and how constraints can be creatively liberating.
How rope, robotics and planetary motion come together in Conrad’s evolving “nervous systems” series.
How art and AI can co-exist — and why algorithms will never replace the uniquely human experience of how we perceive and interpret our world.
Watch the episode on YouTube below, or listen via your preferred podcast app.
