Laura Lima’s Automatons Blur Man and Machine

In the court of the 12th century Artuqid Dynasty, the Persian polymath Ismail Al-Jazari was known for his mystical automatons. These machines – fashioned as peacock fountains, water-clocks or drink-serving waitresses – were dazzling, delighting the palace by appearing to move on their own. ‘Balé Literal’ (Literal Ballet) – Brazilian artist Laura Lima’s new exhibition at New York’s Tanya Bonakdar Galley – comes alive with an energy that mimics the wonders of such automatons. Here, a seemingly self-possessed collection of objects twirl, move and buzz around the gallery in a manner that blurs the boundaries between man and machine.

Her fourth iteration of the project, ‘Balé Literal’ represents Lima’s collapsing of boundaries between physical and time-based mediums by presenting an interconnected series of sculptures, textile works, paintings and prints as elements as a corps de ballet – each dancing with the assistance of both motors and human labour.

The show is divided into two rooms, each functioning as a theatrical space.  The first gallery is the stage, where Lima’s objects-as-dancers move around the space via an infrastructure of ropes, pulleys and motors installed in the ceiling. Annabelle Serpentine Dance (all works 2025) takes its name from the dancer Annabelle Moore, who was immortalized in an 1895 silent film with her seductive, fantastical ‘Serpentine Dance’. Much like the undulating, hand-coloured skirts Moore wore in the film, gauze sheathes suspended from the ceiling move through the space, their pearlescent tones and layers of fabric casting shadows across the room. The other two sculptures in the room – Fotografia Giratória #2 (Rotating Photograph #2) and Desenho Giratório #2 (Rotating Design #2) – spin as if caught in an infinite pirouette, their mechanical nature revealed only by the rhythmic whirring of their engines.

A pulley system emerges from the second gallery, traversing the length of the right wall and sporadically presenting hanging sculptures made with textiles, found objects and photographs. These objects are in a wide range of sizes, from the diminutive shadowboxes of the ‘Fotografia Giratória’ series to large-scale tapestries. Certain works such as Balerina #1 (Ballerina #1) linger on the wall, their presence amplified by a single spotlight. Like a featured soloist, Balerina #1 pauses for a moment in the light, and as the pulleys quickly alternate directions, its ruffled tulle tendrils shake to tremendous effect.

Unlike a regular stage production, Balé Literal offers its audience the chance to peek behind the curtain when they enter the exhibition’s second room. Dodging moving sculptures, viewers find themselves in a bustling backstage warehouse where sculptures wait their turn for one of the exhibition’s (human) performers to transfer them to the pulley. Another person manually operates the pulley with a stationary bike. It is in this room where Lima breaks her own spell, showing rather than concealing the labour that goes on to facilitate such a spectacle.

Lima’s interest in the complicated coexistence of the natural and technological worlds in our late capitalist era extends to the sculptures and textiles collected on racks in the back room. Found objects become more prominent. Astronauta Apicultor #3 (Astronaut Beekeeper #3) consists of a beekeeper’s protective suit with an empty water jug hanging around its neck on a frayed wire. Other pieces directly confront this relationship: Foice com vestido à grega (Scythe with Greek Dress) is made of a sickle and a draped red cloth. This room represents a fragile harmony where Lima’s expansive, cross-disciplinary view of performance comes clearly into focus: technology and its tricks are only as expansive as the human imagination. When Lima’s works in ‘Balé Literal’ dance, they come alive from the twin powers of man and machine.

Laura Lima's 'Balé Literal' is on view at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York until 30 May 

^{Main image: Laura Lima, Balé Literal; Desenho Giratório #3 (detail), 2025, Various threads, plastic, aluminum, metal and electronic components, 300 × 70 × 70 cm. Courtesy: the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles}