Dec 3, 2015, 6:30PM

PennDesign Fine Arts Lecture: Ian Cheng

About

Ian Cheng, *Emissary in the Squat of Gods*, 2015, live simulation and story

Ian Cheng, Emissary in the Squat of Gods, 2015, live simulation and story

Hear directly from artists about the processes, ideas, and obstacles that inform their work.

Ian Cheng first stu­died co­gni­ti­ve sci­ence in Ca­li­for­nia be­fo­re swit­ching to ar­tis­tic prac­tice in New York. The de­ve­lop­ment of li­ve si­mu­la­ti­ons—a di­gi­tal pro­cess for the pro­duc­tion of po­ten­ti­al­ly in­fi­ni­te and un­pre­dic­ta­ble ani­ma­ti­ons—is at the heart of his works.Their cour­se is cal­cu­la­ted in re­al ti­me so that image and sound are de­for­medand trans­for­med li­ve. The ani­ma­ted li­ve si­mu­la­ti­ons re­pre­sent a pos­si­bi­li­ty to re­think the re­la­ti­ons­hip bet­ween hu­ma­ni­ty and the en­vi­ron­ment, as well as to play­ful­ly ma­ke (un-) ima­ginable evo­lu­ti­ons tan­gi­b­le.

Cheng lives and works in New York. Currently he is presenting a new series of work in his solo exhibition Emissary in the Squat of Gods at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (2015). Recent solo exhibitions include: Real Humans, with Wu Tsang, Jordan Wolfson, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (2015); Ian Cheng, La Triennale di Milano, Milan (2014); Baby feat. Bali, Standard (Oslo), Oslo (2013); Entropy Wrangler, Off Vendome, Düsseldorf (2013); Too Humans All Too Humans, Vanity, Los Angeles (2013); and This Papaya Tastes Perfect, Formalist Sidewalk Poetry Club, Miami Beach (2011). Recent group exhibitions include: Taipei Biennial – The Great Acceleration, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei (2014); Phantom Limbs, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London (2014); chatbots, tongues, denial, and various other abstractions, Bortolami Gallery, New York (2014); Season Eight: Pierre Huyghe, The Artist’s Institute, New York (2014); 12th Lyon Biennial – Meanwhile, suddenly, and then, Le Sucriere, Lyon (2013); Freak Out, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York (2013); ProBio, Expo1, MoMA PS1, New York (2013); and A Disagreeable Object, SculptureCenter, New York (2012).