Ian Cheng

Join us live for a virtual lecture by artist Ian Cheng followed by an audience Q&A. This event is free and open to the public, and registration is not required.

Click here to join via Zoom, Passcode: SAICVAP

This event will be live captioned by CART.

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. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

For more information, visit saic.edu/vap. For additional access requests, including ASL interpretation or audio description, 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.