Artist, public speaker and (re)searcher Sougwen Chung is a pioneer in the field of human-machine collaboration. Her work, which spans from installations to performance to drawing, investigates the dynamics and tensions between humans and systems.
Chung is a former research fellow at MIT’s Media Lab and winner of the Woman of the Year Monte Carlo Award (2019) for her achievements in art and science; her works are exhibited worldwide.
In a TED Talk from 2019, the artist explained the reasons that led her to build a robot named D.O.U.G. (the robot is named after her experiment Drawing Operations Unit: Generation 1), and started drawing with robots. Reflecting on the fact that machines are used more and more to complete human tasks, she wondered about the implications of automation in activities that involve a creative process and what this means for humans as creative beings. The artist underlined how her exploration of AI and robotics revolves around both the idea of developing new processes for human creativity and rethinking the boundaries of human and artificial. She is interested in “finding the beauty of human and nonhuman creativity”, and “embracing the imperfections and recognizing the fallibility of both human and machine, in order to expand the potential of both.”
In a more recent interview with the Washington Post, the artist said that:
“Picasso used the tools of his day. I’m interested in using the technologies that define our current moment, as a way of understanding how they work in our lives. The modern human is surrounded by smart technology and phones and machines, and I want to use them as a source of inspiration, looking to what future art practices could be.”
Chung has studios in New York, London, and Basel. To follow her work, please visit :
Best wishes for a wonderful 2021.
Hopefully this was interesting, as conversations about Art and AI are going on. All the posts are available here on the website at any time, where they are up-to-date. Have a good week.