How Sougwen Chung teaches robots to pause
Summary
Artist Su Wen Cheng discusses her decade-long practice of "operational art," where she collaborates with robots and AI as co-creators using EEG data and robotic arms. She explores concepts like the ancient calligraphic "pause," poeticizing error, and the limits of human sensorium. Cheng argues for extended authorship and mutual adaptation, rejecting the view of AI as merely a tool in favor of a dynamic, embodied relationship with intelligent systems.
Topics discussed
Introduction: Brainwaves, Genomics, and Zhang Yao's Legacy
Guest Background: Blending Art, Code, and Music
Inspiration from AlphaGo and the Beauty of Non-Human Moves
Robotic Collaboration and the Evolution of Drawing
Ancestral Connection: Zhang Yao and Recursive Inheritance
Human-Machine Feedback Loops and Agency
EEG Art, Meditation, and Brainwave Thresholds
Doug the Robot: Playfulness and Poeticizing Error
Building from Scratch vs. Proprietary AI Tools
Operational Art and Co-Regulation with Machines
Expanding the Human Sensorium and Empathy
Authorship, Agency, and the Nature of Collaboration
Rapid Fire: Silk Proteins, Arrival, and Future Possibilities
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