_{The flower of life, an element of sacred geometry which in lattice form appeared as part of Daft Punk’s stage set.}

Last night Daft Punk—a pair of Parisian musicians masquerading as robots—performed their entire set from within a giant digitized pyramid. The symbolism embedded in the performance cannot be underestimated, and the story that unfolds from it is profound.

For millennia, the pyramid has been one of man’s most potent and enduring symbols, as well as the basis for an entire field of science. Pyramidology is the study of pyramid energy—the ability for pyramids with the exact proportions of the ones at Giza, Egypt to channel electrical currents, sharpen knives, extend the life of flowers and fruits, and promote good health. Pyramids are central images in many ancient belief systems from around the world, as well as Masonry and the iconography of the United States (check the back of a dollar bill).

_{The Great Pyramid}

Some theories suggest that the Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed by slaves. Robots are sentient machines built to serve humanity; they are essentially slaves. Author Isaac Asimov developed the Three Rules of Robotics:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Asimov eventually coined the Zeroth Law to supercede the others: “A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.”

Here is Daft Punk, a pair of robots, mastering a crowd of 7,000 willing slaves. For two hours last night, the servers became the served and the humans in the audience became the thrall of their own creation on stage. The robots—a modern technological innovation—utilized the ancient structure of the pyramid to harness and focus the collective energy they themselves unleashed.

_Slaves

And yet the robots’ only wish is to serve humanity by enslaving it, to liberate their creators from their own man-made constrains and divisions. The last message that flashed across the 50-foot tall screen behind them:

HUMAN

and

TOGETHER

There is a narrative to the Daft Punk phenomenon that transcends the music. Their use of heavy symbolism—the pyramid, one of man’s oldest, and the robot, one of its newest—adds meaning far beyond electronic dance jams. There’s way more than simple AC/DC thrashing at work—though that was there, too. Daft Punk’s is a far more thoughtful form of rocking out, and last night’s experience was that all the more powerful because of it.

Photos by Jusin Renney