Der Exot was an early telerobotic art project by the Austrian art and theory group monochrom. Developed in 1997/1998, it consisted of a small mobile robot equipped with a webcam that could be controlled remotely through a web interface or chat system.^[1][2] The work was presented at the Vienna Secession in 1998 and was revived in 2011 as an "anti-crowd source robot".^[3][4]

Der Exot was created during a period in which artists and researchers were experimenting with remote interaction, web cameras and internet-controlled machines. Earlier and contemporary works in internet-based telerobotics included Ken Goldberg and Joseph Santarromana's Telegarden, first presented in 1995, which allowed web users to plant, water and monitor a garden through a remote robotic arm.^[5] In the late 1990s, telerobotics and "telepistemology" were also discussed in new media art and research contexts, including panels and presentations at conferences such as SIGGRAPH and the International Symposium on Electronic Art.^[6]

The project also emerged from monochrom's early interest in playful and critical machine culture. According to a 2023 interview in The Gap, monochrom's early magazines and online publications included do-it-yourself construction plans and critiques of what the group saw as an "uninspired and martial" machine culture, arguing instead for robots that would "party with us, not work for us".^[7] This approach later became central to Roboexotica, a festival for cocktail robotics founded in Vienna in 1999.^[8]

The title refers to the German-dubbed version of John Carpenter's Dark Star, in which the alien creature from the English-language original was translated as "Exot".^[9]

The original Der Exot was a small, camera-equipped robot built from Lego components. Remote users could control it through a web interface while coordinating their actions through an online chat system.^[1] According to monochrom's own project documentation, users could steer the robot in real time through the group's shared apartment in Meidling, Vienna.^[10]

A 2017 profile of Günther Friesinger in The Gap described the project as one of his first collaborations with monochrom. The article noted that the robot was controlled through a self-programmed chat system and transmitted images from a shared apartment; because of the limitations of 56k modems, moving video was not feasible.^[2]

The 2011 revival reframed the work as an "anti-crowd source robot". According to Make, the system was designed around the problem that if too many remote users attempted to control the robot simultaneously, it would move without a coherent plan. Users therefore had to discuss and cooperate through chat before deciding on collective actions for the robot.^[4]

Der Exot was developed in 1997/1998 by monochrom.^[10] In a 2013 interview with Futurezone, Johannes Grenzfurthner stated that the project attracted attention from the Austrian radio station FM4 and led to an invitation to the exhibition Junge Szene Wien '98 at the Vienna Secession. He also said that presenting the network-dependent work at the Secession was complicated by the lack of an internet connection at the exhibition site.^[1]

The Basis Wien art and research database lists Der Exot as a 1998 event at the Vienna Secession, with monochrom as participant.^[3] The group also states that the work was presented at Robotronica and discontinued in 1999 because of costs.^[10]

In 2011, monochrom revived the project. Make: reported that the robot was featured at the Robotville Festival at the Science Museum, London.^[4] In the same 2013 Futurezone interview, Günther Friesinger said that the work had been invited to the Science Museum during European Robot Week, but that administrative restrictions prevented the chat-based control from being operated as intended. Friesinger described the failed setup as becoming part of the work's commentary on media art and technological malfunction.^[1]

Der Exot has been discussed in relation to early web-based art, telepresence, and collective interaction in networked systems. Make: characterized the revived version as an experiment in crowd control, emphasizing that users needed to negotiate collective action rather than simply issue individual commands to a machine.^[4] Futurezone and The Gap both connected the project to monochrom's early visibility in the Austrian art scene and to its invitation to the Vienna Secession.^[1][2]

• monochrom
• Telepresence
• Telerobotics
• Internet art
• Robotic art
• Roboexotica
• Telegarden

• Official project page at monochrom
• 2011 web-control page