Ian Cheng Explained

Ian Cheng
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education:BA, University of California, Berkeley
MFA, Columbia University
Occupation:Artist
Notable Works:Emissaries Trilogy
BOB (Bag of Beliefs)
Life After BOB
Spouse:Rachel Rose

Ian Cheng (born 1984) is an American contemporary artist known for his "virtual ecosystem"[1] [2] live-simulated digital artworks.[3] [4] His artworks explore the capacity of living agents to deal with change, and are "less about the wonders of new technologies than about the potential for these tools to realize ways of relating to a chaotic existence."[5] His work has been widely exhibited internationally, including MoMA PS1, Serpentine Galleries, Whitney Museum of American Art, Hirshhorn Museum, Venice Biennale, Leeum Museum and other institutions.[6] [7] [8]

Early life and education

Cheng was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1984. Cheng attended Van Nuys High School. Cheng graduated from University of California, Berkeley in 2006 with a dual degree in cognitive science and art practice. Cheng worked at Industrial Light & Magic, George Lucas's visual effects company.[9] Cheng attended Columbia University, where he earned his MFA in 2009.[9] Cheng worked in the studio of artist Pierre Huyghe from 2010 to 2012 and also worked as co-director at Paul Chan's independent New York based publishing company, Badlands Unlimited, founded in 2010.[10]

Work

Cheng popularized the use of simulation as a medium available to artistic practice, capable of composing together both man-made and algorithmically generated content that together produce emergent behavior over an infinite duration. Cheng's work highlights the capacity of simulation to express the unpredictable dynamic between order and chaos in a complex system.[4] Cheng coined the term “live simulation” as a subset of simulation that is presented in public in real-time without regard for an optimal outcome or pre-defined fitness criteria. Since 2013, Cheng has produced a series of simulations exploring an AI-based agent's capacity to deal with an ever-changing environment.[5] [3]

From 2015 to 2017, Cheng developed Emissaries, a trilogy of episodic live simulations that “explore the history of cognitive evolution, past and future.”[11] Unlike previous simulations, Emissaries introduced a narrative agent, the emissary, whose motivation to enact a story was set into conflict with the open-ended chaos of the simulation. Cheng describes the archetype of the emissary as one who "is caught between unravelling old realities and emerging weird one," an embodied way to explore the relationship between meaning and meaninglessness.[12] Cheng drew inspiration from the narrative nature of consciousness described by Julian Jaynes in The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind.

At Serpentine Galleries in 2018, Cheng premiered BOB (Bag of Beliefs), an AI-based creature whose personality, body, and life script evolve across exhibitions in what Cheng calls “art with a nervous system.”[13]

BOB premiered in the United States in 2019 at Gladstone Gallery. BOB features a unique model of AI that combines an inductive engine for the learning of rule-based beliefs from sensory experiences with a motivational framework composed of mini-personalities called "demons". Each demon competes for control of BOB's body in a "congress of demons", and each utilizes the inductive engine to identify affordances in the environment relevant to its motivations. Viewers were invited to send their own stream of stimulating offerings to BOB through BOB Shrine, a mobile app. Viewers could attach a "parental caption" to each offering, thereby forcing a correction to BOB's beliefs.

At LUMA Arles in April 2021, Cheng premiered Life After BOB: The Chalice Study, the first episode in a planned anime series built in the Unity game engine and presented in real-time.[14] Life After BOB toured through 2022, showing at LUMA Westbau, The Shed, Leeum Museum, and Light Art Space.

Collections

Cheng's work is collected by institutions including Museum of Modern Art, New York;[15] Whitney Museum of American Art, New York;[16] Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles;[17] Migros Museum, Zurich;[18] Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris; Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; Julia Stoschek Collection,[19] Düsseldorf; Yuz Museum, Shanghai.

In 2023, Museum of Modern Art acquired tokenized editions of Cheng's 3FACE, a dynamic generative artwork that analyzes the blockchain wallet data of its owner to “generate a visual portrait of the forces that compose the owner’s personality.”[20]

Other activities

Cheng directed the music video for American band Liars' "Brats" in 2012.[21]

At Frieze London in 2013, Cheng premiered Entropy Wrangler Cloud, one of the first artworks made for virtual reality, using first generation Oculus Rift headsets.[22]

Cheng developed Bad Corgi, an iOS app commissioned by Serpentine Galleries, which has been called a "shadowy mindfulness app for contemplating chaos."[23] [24] [25]

Exhibitions

External links

Notes and References

  1. Obrist. Hans Ulrich. Future Without Humans. Numéro. April 2016. 239–243, 327–331.
  2. Ian Cheng. Interview Magazine. December 2015.
  3. Mellin. Haley. Creatures of Narrative. Garage. Fall–Winter 2016. 11. 186–191.
  4. Jetzer. Gianni. Training in the Neuro-Gym. Spike Art Quarterly. April 2016. 94–107.
  5. Web site: Kerr. Dylan. Artificial Ecology: Ian Cheng on the Strange Art of Simulating Life, and the Conceptual Merits of Pokémon Go. Artspace. 19 January 2017.
  6. Web site: Rosenmeyer. Aoife. Critic's Guide: Zurich. Frieze. 19 January 2017.
  7. Web site: Gratza. Agnieska. Critics Picks: Ian Cheng. Artforum. 19 January 2017.
  8. Bier. Arielle. Review: Ian Cheng at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. Frieze Magazine. November–December 2015. 156.
  9. Web site: Greenberger. Alex. THE CYBORG ANTHROPOLOGIST: IAN CHENG ON HIS SENTIENT ARTWORKS. Artnews. 31 March 2016. 19 January 2017.
  10. Web site: LATITUDES. Expanding the Book: An Interview with Badlands Unlimited. 19 January 2017.
  11. Web site: IAN CHENG: EMISSARY FORKS AT PERFECTION 13 OCT 15-14 NOV 15. Pilar Corrias Gallery. 27 January 2017.
  12. Book: Obrist. Hans Ulrich. EMISSARIES GUIDE TO WORLDING. April 2018. Serpentine Galleries . 9783960982760.
  13. Web site: Huyghe. Pierre. Hans Ulrich Obrist: secrets of a super-curator. Art Newspaper. 3 October 2018 .
  14. Web site: Rose. Frank. Very Personal Computing: In Artist's New Work AI Meets Fatherhood. New York Times . Fall 2021.
  15. Web site: From the Collection – Ian Cheng. MoMA. 27 January 2017.
  16. Web site: COLLECTION – IAN CHENG. Whitney Museum of American Art.
  17. Web site: BOB (Bag of Beliefs). www.moca.org.
  18. Web site: Works in the Collection – Ian Cheng. Migros Museum fur Gegenwartskunst. 27 January 2017.
  19. Web site: Artists in the Collection. Julia Stoschek Collection. 27 January 2017.
  20. Web site: MoMA Acquires Refik Anadol's Popular Generative Artwork 'Unsupervised' . MoMA. 10 October 2023 . 10 October 2023 .
  21. Web site: Amidi. Amid. "Brats" By Ian Cheng. Cartoon Brew. 30 July 2012. 22 January 2017.
  22. News: Luke. Ben. WELCOME TO THE VIRTUAL WORLD. 22 January 2017. January 2016.
  23. Web site: Khan. Nora N.. Trust Issues. Rhizome.org. 3 May 2016 . 19 January 2017.
  24. Web site: Ian Cheng Digital Commission. Serpentine Galleries. 19 January 2017.
  25. Web site: Holmes. Kevin. A 'Bad Corgi' Misbehaves in Video Art Game about Anxiety. The Creators Project. 22 January 2017. March 1, 2016.
  26. Web site: IAN CHENG - Off Vendome. www.offvendome.com.
  27. Web site: 13. June 11, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150611143956/http://formalistsidewalkpoetryclub.com/_/13.html. 2015-06-11.
  28. Web site: Michael E. Smith e Ian Cheng. triennale.org. 21 January 2017.
  29. Web site: South likes: Michael Smith and Ian Cheng at La Triennale di Milano, Milan. south as a state of mind. 27 January 2017.
  30. Web site: "Real Humans" at Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf. mousse magazine. 8 April 2015 . 21 January 2017.
  31. Web site: Ian Cheng. Emissary in the Squat of Gods. fsrr.org. 21 January 2017.
  32. Web site: Mclean. Matthew. Ian Cheng's "Emissary Forks at Perfection". Art Agenda. 27 January 2017.
  33. Web site: Ian Cheng: Emissary Forks at Perfection. Pilar Corrias. 20 January 2017.
  34. News: Chen. Holly. Head Uptown for spring art exhibitions. 27 January 2017. February 5, 2016.
  35. Web site: Stranger at MOCA Cleveland. MOCA Cleveland. 20 January 2017.
  36. Web site: Suspended Animation – Hirshhorn Museum. hirshhorn museum. 20 January 2017.
  37. Web site: Droitcour. Brian. Bodies in the Expanded Field: Animation at the Hirshhorn. Art in America. 12 February 2016 . 27 January 2017.
  38. Web site: "WELT AM DRAHT" at JULIA STOSCHEK COLLECTION, Berlin. Mousse Magazine. 30 October 2016 . 27 January 2017.
  39. Web site: JSC Berlin – Welt Am Draht. 20 January 2017.
  40. Web site: Westall. Mark. Artist Ian Cheng has created a VR 'Pokémon Go-like' installation for The Liverpool Biennial. Fad magazine. 18 July 2016. 27 January 2017.
  41. Web site: Liverpool Biennial. Liverpool Biennial. 20 January 2017.
  42. Web site: Take Me (I'm Yours). New Yorker. 20 January 2017.
  43. News: Hale. Mike. A Retort to Shrinking Screens, in an Ultra-Immersive Show at the Whitney. 20 January 2017. October 16, 2016.
  44. News: Delson. Susan. At the Whitney, a Different Take on the Moving Image. 22 January 2017. October 25, 2016 .
  45. Web site: Ian Cheng Forking At Perfection February 20 – May 16, 2016. E flux. 20 January 2017.
  46. Web site: Harris. Gareth. Tate Modern launches ten-day live art exhibition in the Tanks. The Art Newspaper. 3 April 2017.
  47. Web site: Ian Cheng April 9 – September 24, 2017. 20 January 2017.
  48. News: Ian Cheng. Carnegie Museum of Art. 2018-07-02. en-US.
  49. News: BEING THERE. Louisiana. 2018-07-02.
  50. Web site: Exhibition Being Modern: MoMA in Paris. www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr. en. 2018-07-02.
  51. Web site: JSC BERLIN - IAN CHENG: EMISSARIES. FOUNDATION. JULIA STOSCHEK. www.jsc.berlin. de. 2018-07-02.
  52. News: Ian Cheng: BOB. Serpentine Galleries. 2018-07-02. en.
  53. Web site: New Order : Art and Technology in the Twenty-First Century MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art. en. 2020-04-20.
  54. Web site: Biennale Arte 2019 Artists. 2019-05-13. La Biennale di Venezia. en. 2020-04-20.
  55. Web site: Artists｜OKAYAMA ART SUMMIT 2019. www.okayamaartsummit.jp. ja. 2020-04-20.
  56. Web site: Participating artists in Mud Muses. Moderna Museet i Stockholm. en-US. 2020-04-20.
  57. Web site: Uncanny Valley: Being Human in the Age of AI. 2019-09-25. de Young. en. 2020-04-20.
  58. Web site: Fundación Fernando de Castro. www.fernandodecastro.org. 2020-04-20.
  59. Web site: updated . Will Jennings last . 2022-09-16 . Artist Ian Cheng explores the technological and aesthetic potential of AI . 2022-11-18 . wallpaper.com . en.

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