Behavioral Objects, Behavioral Matter – 2026.09.10

The Rui Cunha Foundation presents on Thursday, September 10, at 6:30 pm, the Behavioral Objects, Behavioral Matter – Rethinking Robotics Through Contemporary Art.

Speaker: Prof. Samuel Bianchini (ENSAD, Paris)

Moderator: Prof. Carlos Sena Caires (USJ/FAH, Macao)

Behavioral Objects, Behavioral Matter – Rethinking Robotics Through Contemporary Art: An Atlas. This is the title of the book that Samuel Bianchini and his art and design historian colleague Emanuele Quinz have just published with the publisher Spector Books. The book is based on over 12 years of research into and with “Behavioral Objects”, involving not only the art and design research group (Reflective Interaction) headed by Samuel Bianchini, but also numerous partners from various disciplines: philosophy, robotics, computer sciences (AI), cognitive science, anthropology, and material sciences. “Behavioral Objects” are robotic art and design objects whose movements tend to demonstrate behaviors. Non-figurative, these art objects have no need of being useful: their activity does not have a specific function or usage. So, why would an object move if not to complete a task? And how does it move if its power of action (its agency) comes from within? How to design these forms of agency and animacy in contradiction with the primary condition of these objects? How can we create works that increasingly incorporate soft robotics and smart materials? How to build an emotional and reflective relation with these robotic objects through an aesthetic dimension in operation? Based on the work done for the book and the presentation of several robotic artworks, including a few developed by Samuel Bianchini in the framework of this Behavioral Objects field of research, this conference will provide answers to these questions through practice-based research.

Samuel Bianchini is an artist and teacher-researcher (professor, habilitated to supervise research) at École des Arts Décoratifs – PSL University for which he supervises PhD in art and design. He lives and works in Paris. With more than 100 collective and 20 solo exhibitions, his works are regularly presented in Europe and around the world. In close relation to his research and artistic practice, Samuel Bianchini has undertaken theoretical work, which has led to numerous publications: over 70 texts and 8 books, including the collective book Practicable. From Participation to Interaction in Contemporary Art, MIT Press, 2016 (co-directed with Erik Verhagen) and the one untitled Behavioral Objects, Behavioral Matter – Rethinking Robotics Through Contemporary Art (codirected with Emanuele Quinz) published in 2026 with Spector Books. He also founded (in 2023) the international and multi-platform image-based journal .able, published by Actar, of which he is currently editor-in-chief.

Admission is free.

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