CRITIC’S CHOICE

There’s been a real buzz around the opening today of Hello, Robot at the V&A Dundee. When R2-D2 – arguably the most famous robot in popular culture – was removed from his packing case by art technicians last week there was a welcoming committee of media colleagues on hand to record the moment. This original model from the first Star Wars film was played by British actor Kenny Baker in the 1977 film, later renamed Episode IV: A New Hope, but was moved in some scenes by remote control or computer animation.

For many people, it was the first time a robot had ever entered their consciousness, but as this exhibition reveals, Fritz Lang’s pioneering science fiction film, Metropolis, tackled the subject of automation as far back as 1926.

The V&A Dundee exhibition will see the first and only UK showing of Hello, Robot, which has been created by Vitra Design Museum, MAK Vienna and Design

Museum Gent.

With technological developments being made every day and robots increasingly finding their way into our homes, our workplaces and even our pockets, it has never been more important to understand and shape the relationships between humans and machines. Hello, Robot takes visitors through four stages of robot influence and evolution, asking seemingly simple questions along the way. From the Björk music video, All is Full of Love, by Chris Cunningham in 1999 to 3D-printed platform Molecule

Shoes created by Francis Bitonti in New York in 2015, this exhibition will put your gas at a digital beep.

Hello, Robot. Design Between Human and Machine, V&A Dundee, Riverside Esplanade, Dundee, DD1 4EZ, 01382 411 611, https://www. vam.ac.uk/dundee/exhibitions/hellorobot Opens today and runs until February 9 2020. Open daily, 10am–5pm. Tickets £6–£12, prices shown online include a £1 discount per ticket.