xoxo-skeleton

xoxo-skeleton is an exoskeleton installation controlled by AI, reversing the usual human–machine interaction. Inside a monumental ribcage-like structure of polished metal ribs, a person becomes the “internal organ” of a larger, autonomous entity. Unlike conventional exoskeletons worn on the body, xoxo-skeleton is not a wearable device but a ceremonial architecture — entered, not strapped on — where only key points of the body connect to the machine.

24 custom sensor boards at each rib tip capture 20 types of environmental data beyond human perception. Each sensor has its own LLM instance processing concurrently in parallel. These agents generate movement drawn from how diverse organisms respond to their environment, producing emergent bodily motion through three ceiling-mounted robotic arms. MaryGPT — a language model fine-tuned on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) — integrates behavioral data into the system’s collective decision-making.

In an era when we routinely entrust daily judgments to AI, xoxo-skeleton goes further: the artist surrenders the body itself. Both artwork and extensible platform, xoxo-skeleton reimagines the body as an interface for post-linguistic AI communication.