Ex Machina (2014): Architecture, Borders and Humanity, Analyzed by Víctor Hugo Palacios Cruz
Víctor Hugo Palacios Cruz examines Alex Garland's 2014 film Ex Machina in an essay for Veredes, focusing on how it addresses human identity through architectural elements. The narrative follows Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), a Bluebook employee, who evaluates AVA (Alicia Vikander), a gynoid, within Nathan's (Oscar Isaac) house-laboratory set in a wooded area of Alaska, though filmed in Norway. The structure incorporates designs from Jensen & Skodvin Architects. Palacios Cruz notes the film's horizontal framing, deliberate pacing, and minimalist design, which highlight themes of barriers and enclosures. Central topics include embodied consciousness, sexuality, and dichotomies, referencing thinkers like Pessoa, Ribeyro, and Foucault, asserting the film's significance in current AI debates.
Key facts
- Víctor Hugo Palacios Cruz published the essay on Ex Machina (2014) via Veredes
- Ex Machina was directed by Alex Garland and released in 2014
- Nathan's house-laboratory was composed from two Jensen & Skodvin Architects projects: the Juvet Landscape Hotel and the Storfjord Summer House
- The film's forested setting is Alaska, with locations shot in a Norwegian landscape
- Caleb is played by Domhnall Gleeson, Nathan by Oscar Isaac, AVA by Alicia Vikander and Kyoko by Sonoya Mizuno
- A Jackson Pollock painting, "No. 5, 1948," appears in Nathan's monitored interior
- The essay cites Michel Serres, Byung-Chul Han, Markus Gabriel, Bruno Latour and Michel Foucault
- Palacios Cruz links the film to contemporary debates on artificial intelligence
Entities
Artists
- Víctor Hugo Palacios Cruz
- Alex Garland
- Oscar Isaac
- Domhnall Gleeson
- Alicia Vikander
- Sonoya Mizuno
- Stanley Kubrick
- Ridley Scott
- Andrew Niccol
- Charlie Brooker
- Werner Herzog
- Mary Shelley
- Viktor Frankenstein
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Francis Bacon
- René Descartes
- Fernando Pessoa
- Julio Ramón Ribeyro
- Jackson Pollock
- Bruno Latour
- Michel Serres
- Byung-Chul Han
- Markus Gabriel
- Charles Darwin
- Francisco de Quevedo
- Michel Foucault
- Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
- Nathan el Sabio
- León XIV
- Milton Calopiña
- Carlos Gamonal
Institutions
- Veredes
- Jensen & Skodvin Architects
- Juvet Landscape Hotel
- Storfjord Summer House
- Bluebook
- Black Mirror
Locations
- Alaska
- United States
- Norway
- Valldal
- Arabia
Sources
- Veredes —