I Robot

In 2018, Burning Man came to the Smithsonian — the Renwick Gallery's "No Spectators" exhibition brought the playa's art into the nation's capital, and hanging among it was Android Jones' "I Robot," created around that year's Burning Man theme of robots and machine consciousness. The piece is Jones staring into his own namesake: an android rendered in his signature electric mandala language, circuitry blooming like lotus petals, a machine caught somewhere between boot-up and enlightenment. Created years before the AI wave broke, it reads more like prophecy, and poses a question: when the machine opens its eyes, what will it worship? From a Smithsonian wall to the palm of your hand, faithfully adapted as a 100mg 24-karat gold aurum.