The phrase ‘uncanny valley’ relates to the artificial simulation of human features. It is a term invoked when discussing robotics and 3D computer animation to elucidate the supposition that as simulated human form begins to resemble actual human form it becomes perturbing or unsettling. The closer a robot gets to human likeness, the more uncanny (the more uncomfortably strange or eerie) it becomes. In this context, the term ‘valley’ references the plummeting discomfort experienced by the viewing subject. It is the Freudian unheimliche for the digital age.

Catalogue essay Isobel Parker Phillip 2014