Huang Yi & Kuka

There are a few moments in the recent film Ex Machina that express a breathtaking sense of transcendence; when man and robot connect in a way that makes my hair stand on end.

I hate to draw comparisons between Hollywood blockbusters and the work of acclaimed Taiwanese dancer and choreographer Huang Yi, but the same acute, shocking wonderment at recognising the human in a human-built being is expertly expressed in both. Yi says in his notes, "Dancing face to face with a robot is like looking at my own face in the mirror". We do it all the time. We project human emotions onto our pets' behaviours, for example. But in Yi's intriguing work the whole concept is magnified. His fluid body behaves like a seismometer, responding to, and echoing, the tremors in the classical, string-driven score, as well as the unexpectedly graceful Kuka.

The narrative, of discovery between man and robot, evolves gradually into a dance between the two. At an immeasurable point the line blurs between who is leading and who is following. The dance with Kuka, one of the most advanced industrial robots, provided by Kuka Australia, amplifies the performance. As the artist explains, "It is an expression of loneliness, self-doubt, self-realisation and self-comfort." Incredibly strong performances, from both man and machine.