Lawrence Lek

Worldbuilding for 2065

For this masterclass, Lawrence Lek will talk about his approach to combining speculative worldbuilding and video game aesthetics within his ongoing 'Sinofuturist' cinematic universe. He will focus on the two works presented in the exhibition - his CGI film «Geomancer», where a satellite AI comes down to earth with the hope of becoming the first AI artist, and «2065», an open-world game based on the film. The game explores a future where AI has supplanted human creativity and automation has created a new culture of entertainment. The virtual world expands each year to incorporate the physical galleries where it has been exhibited. First commissioned for K11 Art Space in Hong Kong (2018), the game now includes the Barbican Centre in London (2019) and the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore (2020). Both projects revolve around the ideas theorized in «Sinofuturism» (1839-2046 AD), Lek’s 2016 video essay about the parallels between Chinese industrialization and portrayals of AI.

Lawrence Lek is a London-based artist, filmmaker and musician who creates site-specific simulations and multimedia installations, often set within a Sinofuturist cinematic universe. His works include the CGI film ‘AIDOL’ (2019), the open-world game ‘2065’ (2018), the video essay ‘Sinofuturism (1839-2046 AD)’ (2016), and the AI-coming-of-age story ‘Geomancer’ (2017). Lek conducts live audio-visual mixes of his works and composes the soundtracks to his works, including ‘AIDOL OST’ (Hyperdub 2020) and ‘Temple OST’ (The Vinyl Factory 2020).

Lead:
Lawrence Lek

When?
November 13th, 2021
2:00 to 3:30 pm

Where?
4.T48, level 4
Toni-Areal
Zurich University of the Arts

Websites:
lawrencelek.com

Ticket:
Get your ticket here.