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Mario Guzman

Artist-researcher and
creative technologist
Berlin / La Rochelle

I make installations, robots, texts and open tools about artificial entities: who is speaking when a machine speaks?

Liminal Sanctuary, 2024XV Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar

Works

2026DIY Shell PhoneShe Tells, Sea Shells
with Helin Ulaş and Rita EperjesiS+T+ARTS Aqua Motion showcase, UNESCO Venice Office 2024Liminal SanctuaryLiminal Sanctuary
with Agustín Ramos AnzorenaXV Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar 2023Entangled Matter: AI, Humans and GolemsEntangled Matter: AI, Humans and GolemsFestival ZERO1, La Rochelle
NeurIPS 2026 Creative AI Track 2021–25A flying seed from the AI Seeds projectAI Seeds / Aerodynamics of SeedsBIENALSUR, Ecuador
FACTO 11, Brazil 2022Consciousness Is the Precooking of the Universal MindConsciousness Is the Precooking of the Universal MindLatin American Artificial Intelligence Biennial, Mexico 2015Quetzalcóatl-botQuetzalcóatl-bot. Between Code and CodexInstallation and New Media Award, 105º Salón Nacional, Buenos Aires

Also

2023Cenote ReflectionsCenote ReflectionsAI Robot Roadshow, AI for Good Global Summit 2023, Geneva 2020Combinatory NierikaCombinatory NierikaTaper #5 · POSVERSO 2026 2020Memory of EverywhereMemory of EverywhereELO (Un)Continuity, Orlando 2019Learning to WriteLearning to WriteGame On!, Centro Cultural San Martín · Mixed Feelings, School of Machines 2018Machine de transcodage bit-celluleMachine de transcodage bit-celluleZERO1, La Rochelle 2016Ped. Deneoclassified Electromagnetic PoemPed. Deneoclassified Electromagnetic PoemCentro Cultural Kirchner 2016The Last AgreementThe Last AgreementCasa del Bicentenario 2015–16Temazcalli-DomeTemazcalli-DomePlanetario Galileo Galilei · BIENALSUR 2015Discrete InfinityDiscrete InfinityItaú Digital Story Award anthology 2014Generative Oracle. From the Pulse to the LetterGenerative Oracle. From the Pulse to the LetterYouth Art Biennial 2014Pre-pixel Symphony in Major Fractal IPre-pixel Symphony in Major Fractal I 2013–Visionoros CollectiveVisionoros CollectiveVHS and electronic music performance

Humanoid robots

Interaction design for the humanoid robots Sophia and Desdemona, 2018–2026, across Hanson Robotics and SingularityNET: what they said, how they moved, how they were shown. Also the empirical core of my PhD.

Sophia the Robot: Stream of Consciousness: Awakening. Close-up of an eye. Sophia the Robot: A Stream of Consciousness About Nature. Profile of the head with its transparent skull.

Sophia

Hanson Robotics, Hong Kong, 2018–2022. Main operator. I developed her speeches and performances and did the art direction for many of her presentations.
Videos: Stream of Consciousness: Awakening · A Stream of Consciousness About Nature.

Hypersensual Overclocking: Making Machines Feel. Desdemona, a robot wearing a green mask. Desdemona seen through a phone camera

Desdemona

SingularityNET, 2021–2026. Dialogue writing and live operation.
Video: Hypersensual Overclocking: Making Machines Feel.

Creative technologist

Commissioned work where I designed and built the technology.

The DIY Shell Phone board next to a shell Legible Journey: a visitor pedals a bicycle on a platform among 3D-printed letters Mirar al cielo / 52 tonos de azul: skies with generated words ONA, light installation, Venice 2017
DIY Shell Phone toolkitwith Helin Ulaş, Rita Eperjesi and Christian Kokott. S+T+ARTS Aqua Motion, EsposendeCustom audio board for a Raspberry Pi Zero, bone-conduction speaker, shell enclosure
Legible Journeyby Colectivo Línea 60. Festival ZERO1, La Rochelle, and Espace Mendès FranceDevice concept, microcontroller system and programming. Video
Robot personalities and interaction devicesYayaLabs, LondonPersonality development, device design, voice research
Mirar al cielo / 52 tonos de azulby Gabriela Golder. Fundación Andreani, BIENALSUR 2021, Videoformes 2022Neural network implementation
ONAby Joaquín Gómez and Tomás Terzano. Open Borders, Palazzo Mora, European Cultural Centre, VeniceLight synchronisation and programming, with Agustín Ramos Anzorena

Texts

PhD thesis in progress at La Rochelle Université: Voicing Artificial Entities: Semiotics and Cultural Narratives in the Development of AI and Robot Persona and Personalities.

2027Reconstitution: Robot Memories Imagined from e-WasteChapter with Kit Kuksenok. Routledge, forthcoming
2026Who Am I Really Talking To? We All Know your chatbot is slowly changing youLecture. CLiP Open Session, Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam
2026Demo Culture, Artificial Voice, and the Staging of Artificial PresenceTalk. InterGestes research group, On Human Trace
2025Who Am I Really Talking To? Chatbots and Creative ComputationLecture and research presentation (Voicing Artificial Entities). Open Drafts colloquium, HfG Karlsruhe
2022How to code human bodies for devouring and mutual enlightenmentCritical Coding Cookbook
2020Interfaces and modes of writing at the intersection between digital literature and electronic artsINNOVA UNTREF
2019Writing as interface: Robotics, pre-Hispanic mythology and creative code¡Cuerpo, Máquina, Acción!

Open source

DIY Shell PhoneKiCad board, bill of materials, assembly guide, printable shell
Imagined Tech StudiesCollective with Kit Kuksenok. Classes and open materials
School of Machines, Making & Make-BelieveMentor, Berlin
Kanapé StudioTechnology and digital design studio. Products to come

About

Mario Guzman

Mario Guzman is a Mexican creative technologist and PhD candidate at La Rochelle Université, where he researches the semiotics of artificial voice and machine personas. For eight years (2018–2026) he operated the Sophia and Desdemona robots across Hanson Robotics and SingularityNET, writing dialogue, programming gesture, and staging live demonstrations.

He is a mentor at the School of Machines, Making & Make-Believe in Berlin, co-founded the Imagined Tech Studies collective, and is the Spanish i18n Steward for the Processing Foundation's p5.js. His work has been shown at Festival ZERO1, BIENALSUR, and the Dakar Biennale.

Available for talks, workshops and commissioned work. Write to me

email instagram github orcid