Mar 24th 2020

This event has been postponed.

This lecture event is free, non-ticketed and open to the public. Doors will open at 5:45 p.m.

Drawing on principles of video game design, improvisation, and cognitive science, Ian Cheng’s practice explores the nature of mutation and the capacity of humans to relate to change. He produces computer-generated simulations whose complex ecosystems are programmed to evolve without end. These projects culminated in the Emissaries trilogy (2014–17), a set of works in which the motivation of a narrative agent—the emissary—is set into conflict with the open-ended chaos of the simulation. In 2019, he debuted BOB (Bag of Beliefs), an AI creature whose personality, body, and life story evolve across exhibitions, what Cheng calls “art with a nervous system.”

Presented in partnership with SAIC’s Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation’s Conversations at the Edge Series

Persons with disabilities requesting accommodations should visit saic.edu/access

Image: Ian Cheng, Emissary Forks at Perfection (still), live simulation and story, infinite duration, 2015-2016. Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias, London and Gladstone Gallery, New York.

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