Amygdala reflects the human need for catharsis back to the human. The ambiguity of the robot’s actions, coupled with the popular and subjective knowledge those actions conjure up, entrust the visitor with the responsibility of defining what they are seeing: Is the machine learning a ritual, mutilating itself, surgically operating on its own body, or adorning it? Is it perhaps a metaphor for capitalistic societies, as they drive themselves and the whole planet to a catastrophic end of civilization? Rather than trying to make a statement on the symbolic meaning or value of purification rituals, I see Amygdala as a mirror which can reveal he belief and cultural background of those who encounter it.

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