CAPTCHA - Lizzy Lubitsky

Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart was exhibited at Bunker in Sept. 2019 and featured new works by Lizzy Lubitsky. The main attraction was two interactive sculptures made with reused gumball machines; each inserted quarter would either prompt three lights to turn on and off in a choreographed sequence, or release a contained rainstorm of foaming Pepto Bismol. 

The gallery was lit with red and blue lights. Twilight filtered through the few uncovered panes of the windows, which were strategically covered to visually reference a photo grid CAPTCHA. Drawings and strange, scrawled handwritten alphabet letters decorated the space. The red and blue theme was carried out with painters tape and red-striped duct tape. On a less-visible wall, a sculpture of Pepto-filled test tubes hung from the wall. 3d letters spelling out "VERY BLUE" were stacked from the floor to the top of the opening in the wall between the two rooms of the gallery, bathed in a blue light. 

Lizzy's relationship to computers is complicated. She relates to computers and robots heavily, and so many of the tests rely on physical and social differences between computers and humans, rather than differences in how we "think." As Lizzy pointed out, it would be odd for a robot to have a quarter on them, and even if they did, it would be difficult for them to place the quarter in the machine and turn the knob, as that requires very fine motor control. A robot would not require Pepto Bismol, and would react differently to changing lighting conditions, or the soothing sound of Pepto rain. The exhibition confused those who were more interested in machine learning, and was embraced by those who enjoy thinking about how humans are primed to respond to different prompts and environments, and how difficult it is to really draw the line between a creator and their creation.

Lizzy's work can be found at studiolubitsky.com

pictures and video by Khadijat Yussuff
words by Anna Nelson