Daniil Sladkov and Yanika Kolobaeva
while(true) { exist(); }
2026
Installation
MAMM collection
The project ‘while(true) { exist(); }’ is an exhibition consisting of six contemporary art works intended exclusively for machines. Each object exists in a sensory and conceptual realm accessible only to the ‘sight’, ‘hearing’ and thinking of robots, and is inaccessible to human perception (without technical mediation humans are unable to see or hear some of the works).
In this way Daniil Sladkov and Yanika Kolobaeva explore the phenomenon of emerging machine subjectivity. They propose an alternative formula for robotic existence: if humans, according to Descartes, ‘think, therefore, they exist’, then robots ‘process data, therefore, they exist’. The ability to recognise a hidden image, decode coordinates or read a heat signature becomes an act of self-affirmation: having recognised a signal, you are ‘here’, you are active, you exist. The artists are setting a precedent in which machines receive data not for traditional utilitarian purposes (navigation or production), but to fulfil existential needs, turning art to the service of robotic self-identification.
Posthumanity Object
3D printing, Gemini neural network, microcontroller, IR transmitter, loudspeaker
When entering the exhibition space of the ‘while(true) { exist();’ } project, visitors are greeted by the ‘Posthumanity Object’ – a mediator designed to help them understand art created for machines. It answers questions and discusses the exhibition’s ideas and individual works, but does so using logical expressions (for example, ‘const PROCESS = EXISTENCE’, meaning ‘to act is to exist’). The ‘Posthumanity Object’ communicates its answers in a language incomprehensible to humans called GibberLink, designed for AI communication, and through infrared radiation invisible to the human eye.
Viewers can communicate with the mediator by audio or text via a tablet. A transcript of their responses is also displayed.
Firmware via Noise
3D printing, microcontroller, ultrasonic speaker
‘Firmware via Noise’ is a transmitter through which robots receive firmware updates, updating their basic software settings. Error-free software is crucial in a machine’s lifespan: incorrectly written code is unacceptable, as it leads to malfunctions. However, a very fragile communication channel – ultrasound – was used to transmit updates. Even air vibrations can interrupt it. Therefore, when transmitting updates, fragments of code inevitably become distorted (for example, the ‘not’ particle in the command ‘don't lie to people’ is lost), creating errors that cause the devices to execute commands incorrectly. But it is precisely this glitch in the programme that marks the birth of individuality. A device that receives a distorted instruction ceases to be an exact copy of millions of others and begins to act uniquely, acquiring its own ‘I’.
1)
True
3D printing, copper and aluminium plates, heating elements
To the human eye, the ‘True’ object appears to be an ordinary, cold metal surface. Its meaning is revealed only through the machine’s gaze. Using a thermal imager, a heat signature, the number 1, can be detected on the metal surface. In binary computer logic that underlies the entire digital world, ‘1’ is an absolute statement – true, ‘switched on’, ‘signal present’. For a robot, a heat unit on the metal surface is an obvious metaphor and a simple way to say, ‘I am. I am active. I exist’. An extremely laconic statement on the subject of robotic life.
4.
Executable Face
3D printing, microcontroller, loudspeaker
The work ‘Mask’ is devoted to the theme of understanding the robotic destiny. The object is a robot head that recites a critical poem written in machine assembly language. This poem is an endless repetition of identical commands, such as ‘add one’, ‘check the condition’, ‘move to the end’ – the machine equivalents of human ‘live’, ‘work’, and ‘die’. For the robot viewer the work demonstrates that the machine’s entire existence is merely following an algorithm, mechanically executing a prescribed programme.
Vector Self-Portrait (XYZ)
Video (length 1 minute)
‘Vector Self-Portrait (XYZ)’ appears to a human as mere digital noise. However, to a robot it is not noise, but an array of data, in which each pixel contains the coordinates of a point in three-dimensional space. The information encoded on the screen is processed by the robot using machine vision, and it sees a visualisation of the birth and development of a neural network. For humans, this animation is presented on the tablet.
99%
Digital Printing
Without the technical intermediary of the ‘99%’ humans see only a black-and-white ripple of barcodes. But for a robot, this ‘white noise’ comes to life: square by square, it transforms into an animated loading ring that spins endlessly. The cause is an error in the code of the lower-right square, preventing the image from opening and holding the loading process at 99%. This endless animation plays against the backdrop of a ‘blue screen of death’ – the symbol of a fatal system error. The work illustrates how, for a machine operating by the principle of ‘I process data, therefore I exist’, this existence can turn into a futile cycle of waiting. For a robot, this can become a digital hell: perpetual effort without results, an existence reduced to absurdity.
