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WORLDBUILDING
Geomancer, Lawrence Lek
Geomancer Chapter 3: Archaeology of the Future Extract for Transmediale 2018 // Face Value
Featuring HD video game graphics, a neural network-generated dream sequence, and a synthesised vocal soundtrack, Geomancer explores the implications of post-human consciousness.
Emissary trilogy, Ian Cheng
Geomancer Chapter 3: Archaeology of the Future Extract for Transmediale 2018 // Face Value
2020/2021
ADS8
The Emissary trilogy (2015–17), a series of live simulation works created using a video game engine. Described by the artist as “a video game that plays itself,” the works are comprised of computer-generated simulations like those used in predictive technologies for complex scenarios such as climate change or elections. Populated by a cast of characters and wildlife that interact, intervene, and recombine in open-ended narratives, Cheng’s simulations evolve endlessly as self-contained ecosystems. The exhibition Emissaries marks the completion of this series of works, which contemplate timeless questions about evolution, the origins of human consciousness, and ways of relating to a chaotic existence.
monsters and ghosts of the Russian Arctic
Andra Pop-Jurj
Geomancer is a CGI film by Lawrence Lek about the creative awakening of artificial intelligence. On the eve of Singapore’s 2065 Centennial, an adolescent satellite AI escapes its imminent demise by coming down to Earth, hoping to fulfil its dream of becoming the first AI artist. Faced with a world that limits its freedom, Geomancer must come to terms with its militarised origins, a search that begins with a mysterious syndicate known as the Sinofuturists...
