Additional Coverage:
Miami, FL – Art Basel Miami Beach is once again proving to be the epicenter of the avant-garde, this year featuring an installation that has everyone talking – and a little bit unsettled. “Regular Animals,” by Charleston-based Beeple Studios, has gone viral, showcasing a peculiar blend of robotics, celebrity likenesses, and, well, digital “poop.”
Imagine this: skin-colored robot dogs, each adorned with eerily lifelike wax heads of iconic billionaires and artists such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso. These robotic canines roam freely within a pen, occasionally bumping into each other, and then, in a truly bizarre spectacle, they enter “poop mode” and produce digital photographs on the floor.
Artist Mike Winkelmann, better known as Beeple, explained the concept in a TikTok interview. He noted that the pictures the robots “take” offer a reinterpretation of how these influential figures perceive the world.
“It has artists, and it also has Elon and Zuckerberg,” Winkelmann stated. “And increasingly, these technologists and people who control these algorithms are deciding what we see, how we see the world.”
He even included his own likeness on one of the robot dogs, adding himself to the commentary.
The internet’s reaction has been a mix of amusement, fascination, and outright unease. Comments on social media platforms ranged from “Thanks, I wasn’t planning on sleeping tonight anyway” to “Those are almost as unsettling as the actual people.” Another user on Art Basel’s Instagram called it “genius and terrifying at the same time.”
Winkelmann revealed that the robots are designed to operate for three years, primarily to record and store these unique digital images on the blockchain. And for those with deep pockets and a taste for the unusual, Art Basel has confirmed that each edition of these “Regular Animals” robots has already sold out, fetching a cool $100,000 each.
The installation is a highlight at the Zero 10 exhibition, a dedicated space for digital-era art. Beeple himself is no stranger to making waves in the art world; he shot to global fame during the NFT boom of 2021 when his artwork “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” sold for over $69 million at Christie’s.
Art Basel Miami Beach, running from December 5th through 7th, attracts 283 leading galleries from 43 countries and is known for drawing the world’s wealthiest collectors, with seven-figure art acquisitions being a regular occurrence. “Regular Animals” certainly ensures this year’s event will be remembered for its unique, if slightly unsettling, artistic statement.