Sougwen Chung - Courtesy of the Artist
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Following Sougwen Chung's esteemed inclusion in the inaugural TIME100 AI list — a tribute to 100 visionaries redefining AI's global impact, HOFA Gallery, London, unveils the artist's latest exhibition which opens to the public from 14 – 25 October 2023. Press preview 13 October 2023, RSVP only.
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Renowned for their innovative gestural mark-making, Sougwen Chung collaborates with AI-powered robots in performances that exemplify human-AI synergy in art creation.
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A former MIT Media Lab fellow and Google Artist in Residence, Sougwen Chung has showcased their artworks and performances globally, including at New York’s The New Museum in New York and Geneva's Museum of Contemporary Art.
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MEMORY, one of their collaborative creations with robotic arm DOUG (Drawing Operations Unit Generation), was recently acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum, while the ongoing series has been covered in The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Washington Post, highlighting their unparalleled prominence in the field.
LONDON: Tuesday 11 September 2023: Contemporary art gallery and art+tech pioneers HOFA, today announce the forthcoming launch of Relational Gestures, a new exhibition by artist and 2023 TIME100 AI list honouree, Sougwen Chung, from 14 - 25 October at their flagship in London’s Mayfair and is open to the public. Press preview 13 October 2023, RSVP only - emmalouise@thehouseofineart.com.
The Chinese-Canadian artist and artistic director of London-based studio, Scilicet, is renowned for their visionary and speculative practice exploring human-AI collaboration. Sougwen Chung’s forthcoming 2-week show is centred on the idea of hybridity as a relational approach which resolves adversarial perceptions of AI through balance, openness, and imagination.
Sougwen Chung, Mutations No. 3, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, created with D.O.U.G._4 78 x 65 cm
The ‘Human and Machine’ collaborative hybrid is fundamental to Sougwen Chung’s research-driven practice and the Relational Gestures HOFA exhibition will feature physical paintings and artefacts, digital videos, AR sculptures and immersive media installations that demonstrate this hybridity in subtle and compelling ways. The artist will also offer some of their works as collectible NFTs.
Reflecting on the potential impact of their upcoming show, Sougwen Chung says, "Relational Gestures will showcase a body of artefacts and new works that result from a hybrid process, encouraging the viewer to look beyond screens and flat interfaces to imagine the possible sensory mixes of the future. Through the work I am thinking deeply about how the human hand, how human creative capabilities, might evolve as a direct result of the possibilities afforded by embodied AI."
The 2023 TIME100 AI list features leaders, policymakers, artists and entrepreneurs who are advancing major conversations about how AI is reshaping the world, and Sougwen Chung earned a prized place as an ‘Innovator’ on it through their bold, thought-provoking gestural artworks and performances where AI is shown to be much more than a generative tool.
Sougwen Chung, Ligatures Node 1, 2020. Digital / AR (NFT) Dimensions Vary Duration: 30s
Sougwen Chung’s work with AI represents a significant divergence from the dominant AI paradigm, drawing in diverse audiences from art lovers and AI enthusiasts to art+tech watchers and experts in robotics and machine learning. Most notable among their growing range of artworks are their artworks and performances created in collaboration with AI-powered robotic arm, DOUG, which have won critical acclaim around the world.
The former MIT Media Lab Fellow and Google Artist in Residence is very accomplished in their multidisciplinary niche, having received several awards and been exhibited in prestigious museums such as the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Geneva, and the NTT Intercommunication Center (ICC) in Tokyo. Their work has also been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fast Company, WIRED, and more.
Sougwen Chung, Wave Study, 2023. Painting & Mixed Media Acrylic on Perspex, Print on Paper 38 x 30 cm
HOFA Co-Founder and art+tech entrepreneur Elio D'Anna considers Relational Gestures a major part of the Gallery's fall line-up: "Sougwen’s exhibition is an interesting departure from what we usually see with AI art because their process is as much a part of the show as their captivating gestural paintings. Being honoured as an Innovator in the TIME100 AI list is also a huge accolade and demonstrates the significance of their work. We are very excited about their upcoming show."
When asked what motivates their expanding artistic practice, Sougwen explains, "I've seen how an interdisciplinary curiosity can be a force for breaking barriers between the arts, sciences, technology, design and engineering, and I'm interested in how art can shape our cultural imagination about technology."
Sougwen Chung’s ‘Relational Gestures’ exhibition is open to the public 14 – 25 October 2023 at HOFA Gallery.
Press preview 13 October 2023, RSVP only emmalouise@thehouseofineart.com.
