A pack of robotic quadrupeds bearing hyperrealistic silicone faces of tech billionaires and famous artists has become one of the most talked-about installations at Art Basel Miami Beach. The bizarre half-humanoid, half-canine creatures roam the gallery floor, featuring the faces of Elon Musk, Andy Warhol, Mark Zuckerberg, Pablo Picasso, and Jeff Bezos, while periodically dispensing printed artworks from their rear ends.
The installation, titled "Regular Animals," is the latest project from digital artist Beeple, whose real name is Mike Winkelmann. The artist gained international fame in 2021 when he sold a 5,000-image digital collage for $69.3 million at Christie's, making him the third most expensive living artist in the world at the time. His latest work carries the warning message: "We are not ready for the future."
Each robotic dog captures what it sees through its cameras and reinterprets the world through the lens of the celebrity whose face it bears. "They're constantly taking pictures and reinterpreting the world through the lens of these different characters," Winkelmann explained while standing inside the installation's pen on the fair's opening day. The printed images come out in distinctive visual styles matching each personality - Andy Warhol's robot produces pop art-inspired prints, while the Picasso version creates cubist interpretations.
Winkelmann included two robots bearing his own likeness among the celebrity faces, acknowledging with a smile, "I'm the odd one out, I'll say that." The artist strategically chose the tech billionaires to make a pointed commentary about digital influence. "We're increasingly seeing the world through the lens of how they would like us to see it, because they control these very powerful algorithms," he said. "They judge what we see in the world and for many people, it's their primary source of news."
The robots display "poop mode" on screens attached to their backs when dispensing the artwork prints, which are actually NFT souvenirs for visitors. This cheeky reference plays on internet criticism of NFTs, which have often been dismissed as worthless. Winkelmann called the NFT boom's subsequent crash "inevitable" due to the amount of low-quality work produced during the frenzy, though he believes genuine innovation is now emerging in digital art.
Visitor reactions at the Zero 10 section of Art Basel Miami have been intense and varied. Spectators frequently pull out phones to film the bizarre scene, with overheard comments ranging from "Disgusting" and "Disturbing" to "Brilliant." One woman paused before declaring, "That's different." In an unexpected moment, two real dogs on the art fair floor began barking at the robots, prompting Winkelmann to allow them into the pen to interact with their mechanical counterparts.
The robotic sculptures have a built-in obsolescence that adds conceptual depth to the work. Their primary function of recording pictures and storing them on the blockchain will cease after three years, giving the creatures a finite lifespan while they retain basic motor skills. This temporal limitation reflects broader themes about technology, mortality, and the ephemeral nature of digital culture.
Since his record-breaking NFT sale, Winkelmann has focused on expanding his Charleston, South Carolina-based studio as a hub for experimental digital art. He has continued exhibiting at major institutions, including recent shows at The Shed in New York and LACMA in Los Angeles. His work increasingly incorporates AI-generated commentary on American politics and social issues.
All the robotic animals were sold within the first hour of the art fair's opening, with collectors eager to take home their own Zuckerberg, Musk, or Beeple creations. The installation's success reflects the growing acceptance of digital art in traditional art markets, supported by Art Basel's dedicated digital art section and industry reports showing significant growth in the medium over the past year.
