The Artist Is (Not) Present
Tobias Gutmann

The artist is absent, yet Sai Bot, Tobias Gutmann’s AI twin, is present. A face on a screen looks back at you, a voice speaks, and an image emerges. The gestures of portraiture continue, but the warmth, breath, and subtle exchange have vanished.

Sai Bot is trained on thousands of drawings from Tobias Gutmann’s Face-o-mat, a participatory public art performance, in which the artist meets people face to face and translates their personas into portraits. The AI sees, translates, and draws, but can an algorithm truly encounter another being? Can a machine perceive the fragile pulse of a human?

Echoing Marina Abramović’s The Artist Is Present, the human body has morphed into a digital ghost, yet traces remain in code, in gesture, in memory. The Artist Is (Not) Present invites reflection on what it means to connect when machines take the place of humans. 

Sai Bot Portraits – Riyadh Edition
Giclée print, 76 × 56 cm
Curated by Tobias Gutmann

Inquiries: tobias.gutmann@saibot.art

A conversation in the Saiversum – Tobias Gutmann and his AI artist twin Sai Bot.

The Artificial Intelligence that powers Face-o-mat Sai Bot has been developed by Dazlus.

Artist Management: NOA Contemporary
Press / Sales: Anastasia Dawson
Thanks to: Dubai Design Week 

The Artist Is (Not) Present
Tobias Gutmann

Face-o-mat Sai Bot, by Tobias Gutmann
5–9 November 2025 
Dubai Design Week – Editions 
Dubai Design District (D3) Waterfront, Booth E22

Get your personal portrait drawn by Tobias Gutmann’s AI twin