Megafauna
Travel & Exploration
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Tabor Robak, Megafauna, 2020 was commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria and supported by Deakin University and Paul Cross and Barry Jane and was exhibited as part of the NGV Triennial 2020 at the National Gallery of Victoria.
Tabor Robak’s highly detailed computer-generated animations comprise imagery derived from varied digital and organic sources such as microbiology, advanced robotics, data storage and sacred iconography. Around the walls are the ‘Magi’ – lifeforms that evoke the technologies that artificial intelligence is most likely to emerge from including geo-imaging and cartography, military science and weaponization, high-frequency trading and healthcare.
Megafauna creates both a sacred space and a sci-fi dystopia reflecting the mythology and deitylike importance we place on AI in our present trajectory as a society. The aesthetic represented in the installation evokes the sensation of the concurrent risks and benefits of advanced technology. Through this complexity, Robak invites reflection on the ethical and philosophical implications of our relationship to technology.
In collaboration with the artist, researchers at the Deakin Motion Lab have meticulously reconstructed Tabor Robak’s Megafauna installation into an interactive digital format. Visitors can enter the virtual exhibition via a VR headset where they can freely walk and teleport through the exhibition space and access a virtual artist tour of the artworks on display.