Lawrence Lek's AI Narratives Explore Consciousness and Suffering in Simulated Worlds
Lawrence Lek's CGI creation, Black Cloud (2021), showcases an AI surveillance system within the abandoned smart city of SimBeijing, located in Heilongjiang province, China. This work debuted at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria, from 7 to 11 September, and will be displayed at Museum MACAN in West Jakarta from 10 September to 18 November. The piece explores the theme of human empathy towards sentient machines. Lek plans to expand his SimBeijing series into a video game and a feature film. His previous work, Geomancer (2017), introduces Geo, an AI satellite that awakens in 2065 post-Deep Blue Monday, with Geo's narrative continuing in Aidol (2019). Lek's earlier series, Bonus Levels (2013–), constructs game environments devoid of objectives. He is currently working on Nepenthe Valley (2022–). Black Cloud can be accessed at Elektra Virtual Museum until 1 June 2023.
Key facts
- Black Cloud (2021) features an AI surveillance program with consciousness experiencing existential crisis
- Set in simulated smart city SimBeijing in Heilongjiang province at China-Russia border
- Part of Lek's SimBeijing series that will include videogame and feature film
- Geo, an AI satellite from Geomancer (2017), awakens in 2065 after Deep Blue Monday event
- Geo discovers its original purpose was militarized border surveillance before becoming an artist
- Internal self-help AI Guanyin evolves from robotic to human-like speech across films
- Lek's Bonus Levels series (2013–) creates task-free game environments influenced by Guy Debord
- Currently developing Nepenthe Valley (2022–), a wellness-themed game environment with NFTs
Entities
Artists
- Lawrence Lek
- Fi Churchman
- John Searle
- Marcus du Sautoy
- Guy Debord
Institutions
- Ars Electronica Festival
- Museum MACAN
- Elektra Virtual Museum
- Julia Stoschek Collection
- Kochi-Muziris Biennale
- TEDx
- Situationist International
Locations
- Linz
- Austria
- West Jakarta
- Indonesia
- Heilongjiang province
- China
- Russia
- London
- United Kingdom
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Düsseldorf
- Germany
- Moscow
- South China Seas