Chat Haus AI Exhibit: Brooklyn Artist Creates Satirical Coworking Space for Chatbots

Published April 28, 2025 | Updated April 29, 2025

Nestled between an elementary school and a public library in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, the Chat Haus AI exhibit presents a fascinating and thought-provoking art installation that at first glance appears to be a typical luxury coworking space. However, this unique creation by Brooklyn artist Nim Ben-Reuven offers a satirical commentary on artificial intelligence’s impact on creative industries through a world populated entirely by cardboard robots working diligently at their computer stations. The exhibit captures both the humor and underlying anxiety of the AI revolution currently transforming creative professions.

Chat Haus AI Exhibit: A Cardboard Coworking Universe

The Chat Haus AI exhibit presents itself as a fully functional luxury coworking space, complete with all the expected elements: people typing at computers, taking phone calls, and sipping coffee during brief work breaks. However, every aspect of this world—from the occupants to the furniture to the coffee cups—is meticulously crafted from cardboard. Small motors control the movements of the cardboard robots, creating an uncanny simulation of a busy office environment.

Satirical details enhance the exhibit’s commentary, including a sign advertising desk space for “only” $1,999 per month and another prominently labeling the space as “A luxury co-working space for chatbots.” These elements emphasize the absurdity while providing sharp observations about both the gig economy and the increasing role of AI in creative work.

The Chat Haus AI exhibit occupies the front window space of 121 Norman Avenue, transforming what would otherwise be an empty storefront into a vibrant artistic statement. Its location between an elementary school and a public library creates an interesting juxtaposition—placing this commentary on cutting-edge technology between two traditional institutions of learning and knowledge.

The Vision Behind the Installation

Brooklyn artist Nim Ben-Reuven created the Chat Haus AI exhibit as a multifaceted response to the rapid changes AI is bringing to creative industries. As a graphic designer and videographer himself, Ben-Reuven has experienced firsthand the disruption caused by artificial intelligence, including losing freelance opportunities to AI-generated content. Rather than responding with bitterness, he channeled his frustrations into art that balances critique with humor.

“It was like an expression of frustration in humor, so I wouldn’t get too bitter about the industry changing so quickly and under my nose and not wanting to be a part of the shift,” Ben-Reuven explained in an interview. “So I was like, I’ll just fight back with something silly that I can laugh at myself.”

This approach reflects Ben-Reuven’s thoughtful consideration of how to effectively communicate his message. He deliberately avoided creating overly negative or aggressive art, believing that such work “forces it into a corner and requires it to defend itself.” Instead, the Chat Haus AI exhibit employs a lighter tone to draw in viewers of all ages and opinions on AI, creating a space for reflection rather than confrontation.

The artist also acknowledges the relative scale of AI’s impact on creative industries compared to other global challenges. “I mean, AI, in terms of the creative world, seems like such a light thing compared to so many of the other, like war, things that are happening in the world and like the terror and the trauma that exists,” he noted, contextualizing his artistic response within broader world events.

Detail of the cardboard robots at work in the Chat Haus AI exhibit, each with motorized moving parts to simulate office activities.

Symbolism in Cardboard: Material as Message

The choice of cardboard as the primary medium for the Chat Haus AI exhibit is neither arbitrary nor merely practical. Ben-Reuven has a long history with the material, having previously created a life-size replica of an airport terminal from cardboard during his graduate studies. Over the past decade, he has developed a collection of cardboard robots—which he affectionately calls his “cardboard babies”—during breaks between freelance assignments.

Beyond personal familiarity, the cardboard medium carries symbolic weight within the installation’s commentary on artificial intelligence. As Ben-Reuven explains: “The impermanence of this cardboard stuff, and the ability for it to collapse under even just a little bit of weight, is how I feel that AI is interacting with the creative industries.”

This symbolism extends to a critique of AI-generated creative content: “People can make their Midjourney images that look really great on Instagram and excite 12-year-olds to no end, but with any level of scrutiny, it’s garbage, and I feel like you look close enough at these cardboard things, they are easily collapsible and easily will fall under any weight.”

The Chat Haus AI exhibit thus employs its very material to communicate a key message about perceived superficiality and structural weakness in AI creative outputs. The cardboard becomes both medium and metaphor, embodying the artist’s perspective on AI’s limitations while simultaneously showcasing the human craftsmanship and intentionality that went into creating these seemingly simple figures.

Visitor Reactions and Public Engagement

The Chat Haus AI exhibit‘s window display format has proven effective at engaging the public, attracting diverse audiences who might not typically visit traditional art galleries. During an interview with the artist near the installation, numerous passersby stopped to observe and interact with the display, demonstrating its broad appeal.

These spontaneous visitors included groups of millennials who paused to take photographs, as well as elementary school students who engaged their adult companions with questions about the display. This multi-generational appeal speaks to Ben-Reuven’s success in creating an accessible entry point for discussions about artificial intelligence and its impact on creative work.

The exhibit’s location in a mixed-use neighborhood further enhances this accessibility, placing the Chat Haus AI exhibit within the community’s daily life rather than in a segregated arts district. This integration into the urban fabric allows for serendipitous encounters with the work, potentially reaching audiences who might not seek out commentary on artificial intelligence in other contexts.

While visitor reactions have not been formally documented, the consistent foot traffic and engagement observed suggest that the installation effectively provokes curiosity and conversation. The approachable, humorous nature of the cardboard robots creates an inviting atmosphere that draws viewers in, allowing the deeper commentary to emerge through engagement rather than confrontation.

The window display format of the Chat Haus AI exhibit allows for spontaneous engagement from diverse passersby in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood.

Artistic Commentary on AI and Creative Industries

While the Chat Haus AI exhibit employs humor and whimsy, it contains substantive commentary on the relationship between artificial intelligence and creative work. Ben-Reuven acknowledges the appeal of AI-generated content while critically examining its implications. He likens AI-generated art to “junk food” that provides a quick “serotonin hit” before being “digested quickly”—suggesting that while immediately satisfying, it lacks lasting nutritional (or in this case, artistic) value.

The installation visualizes a provocative concept: that somewhere, physical entities are laboring to produce the AI-generated content we consume. As Ben-Reuven describes it, the exhibit expresses “this idea of, like, a whole bunch of kind of cute, kind of creepy, baby robots typing away because of our ChatGPT prompts in some warehouse somewhere, working non-stop taking as much like electricity as Switzerland uses in a year.”

This conceptualization materializes the often invisible infrastructure and environmental costs of AI systems, transforming abstract digital processes into tangible, physical labor. Through this visualization, the Chat Haus AI exhibit invites viewers to consider not just the outputs of AI systems but also their inputs, costs, and the labor they potentially displace.

Yet importantly, Ben-Reuven’s approach avoids simple technophobia or Luddism. The installation doesn’t condemn technology outright but rather interrogates its implementation and implications, particularly its impact on creative professionals. The satirical framing of AI chatbots as office workers in a luxury coworking space points to questions about labor, value, and the economies forming around AI systems.

Future Plans for the Installation

The Chat Haus AI exhibit currently occupies a storefront awaiting renovation permits, making it a temporary installation by design. Ben-Reuven hopes to maintain the display until at least mid-May 2025, though the exact duration depends on the building’s renovation schedule.

Looking beyond its current iteration, the artist has expressed interest in expanding the installation if given the opportunity to move to a larger gallery space. This expansion would allow for additional elements and greater complexity in the cardboard coworking universe. However, Ben-Reuven humorously notes a practical constraint: limited storage space in his apartment for the cardboard creations once the exhibition concludes.

The temporary nature of the Chat Haus AI exhibit reflects both practical limitations and thematic resonance with its subject matter. Just as the cardboard construction comments on the perceived impermanence of AI outputs, the exhibition itself exists as a fleeting intervention in urban space—here for a moment, then gone, much like the rapid cycles of technological innovation and obsolescence that characterize the AI field.

This ephemerality invites questions about digital preservation of physical art commenting on digital technology—what remains of such work once the installation is dismantled? Will documentation of the Chat Haus AI exhibit itself become part of the digital content ecosystem, perhaps someday to be processed by the very AI systems it comments upon?

Visiting the Chat Haus AI Exhibit

The Chat Haus AI exhibit is currently on display in the front window of 121 Norman Avenue in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood. As a window installation, it can be viewed from the street at any time, though natural lighting conditions may affect visibility depending on the time of day.

The location is conveniently situated near public transportation options, including the Nassau Avenue G train station. The surrounding Greenpoint area offers numerous cafes and restaurants, including Pan Pan Vino Vino directly across the street, making it possible to observe the installation while enjoying local refreshments.

Since the display is temporary and dependent on the building’s renovation schedule, interested visitors are encouraged to view the Chat Haus AI exhibit sooner rather than later. While planned to remain until mid-May 2025, this timeline could change based on construction permits and schedules.

For those unable to visit in person, Ben-Reuven maintains documentation of his work, including the Chat Haus installation, on his website at www.nimbenreuven.com. This digital presence ensures that even after the physical installation is dismantled, its commentary and creativity remain accessible to a global audience.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Chat Haus AI Exhibit