Originally commissioned by Satellite Art Projects in 2008, Ronnie van Hout’s iconic sculpture R.U.R. is once again on public display, at Monash University Clayton campus.
Presented & organised by Monash University Museum of Art, in association with Satellite, the enormously popular, eight metre long, robot sculpture is back by popular demand. The black form recalls modernist minimalist sculpture and hard edged urban design, but the features of the robot – including large eyes that fill with water when it rains – and its prone position, animates and humanises the work. The artist Ronnie van Hout is quoted in the Monash University announcement referring to these ideas:
“The feeling of empathy that we could have for the robot is for something that appears fallen. Something that has failed. This feeling can also allude to a fear of success, or a fear to stand up and be judged for what we do.”
On display now.