The action of this artificial organ raises ethical questions about the will and responsibility involved in this mechanical requiem, a metaphor for a limit that people delegate to technology.

Ad lib., the abbreviation of the Latin ad libitum, literally means “at will” and is generally used to express the freedom of a person to act according to their own judgment in a given context, but it is also a musical caption that gives the performer the discretion of interpretation, allowing certain bars of the score to be repeated at will.

Michele Spanghero: www.michelespanghero.com

In this empty room lit with a single fluorescent light is a hospital bed and the Last Moment Robot by the bedside. The robot is constructed as a medical device with a padded, caressing arm and a customized recording device designed to guide and comfort the dying patient. The whole event is carefully scripted.

Viewers of this installation are invited to enter the room one at a time, accompanied by an individual dressed in a doctor’s coat. After the patient lies down beside the robot, the doctor asks permission to insert his or her arm under the caressing mechanism. The device is activated, and an LED screen reads “Detecting end of life.” At this point, the doctor exits the room, leaving the patient alone by him or herself. Within moments the LED reads “End of life detected”, the robotic arm begins its caressing action, moving back and forth, stimulating a sense of comfort during the dying process. The Last Moment Robot takes the idea of human replacement to a more extreme scale. It allows robotic intimacy technology to be re-evaluated.

The work shown here is in prototype form.