21-year-old queen Aquaria made herself up as the world-famous humanoid robot for her latest look
Sophia, Hanson Robotics’ bald, lifelike robot, is having the time of her life. She recently graced the cover of Elle, was introduced before the United Nations to explain that “if we are smarter and focused on win-win type of results, artificial intelligence could help proficiently distribute the world’s existing resources like food and energy”, and was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship before announcing that she’s ready to start a family.
That’s all very well and fucking terrifying, but there’s no time to worry about the massive implications that sentient A.I. could have right now. For now, 21-year-old drag legend Aquaria has recreated Sophia in her latest look. Aquaria told Mic “my favourite things about Sophia are probably her sense of humor and her fierce stunty looks” adding “I wanted to dip my toes into the uncanny valley and also play off of all the funny memes that have been popping up across social media.”
Terrified of Sophia’s potentially dangerous capabilities, Aquaria said, “Sophia has... peculiar – I need to watch my words just in case she is reading this – facial features so I wanted to exaggerate the imperfections and oddities of her face. From wonky eyebrows to a funky chin, I wanted to subtly transform my mug into hers. With the help of Photoshop, I was able to enlarge my forehead to look like her bald head because I had forgotten to grab a bald cap. I topped the look off with a tin foil skull cap to resemble her mechanical back-of-head.”
Aquaria’s Instagram is full of pretty mind-blowing transformations – from Cardi B to Goldie Hawn, Anna Wintour and Kesha.
The look is very cool, and so is Sophia, but Aquaria’s closing words do sound a little bit like she’s maybe been taken hostage by the robot and is reading off cards: “Sophia is not a drag legend. She is not a queer legend. She is a legend that all humans can relate to. Sophia is love. Sophia is life.”