An artist, programmer and robotics expert, Sougwen 䇤君 Chung builds systems that respond to her movements as she draws and paints: a creative practice the bridges the gap between man and machine. Starting with a simple line, her process has led to interdisciplinary insights, philosophical inquiry and technological invention through pioneering artistic practice. Intertwining perspectives in art and science, Chung’s practice envisions alternative futures for the relationship of humans and machines. Her paintings and drawings have been exhibited across the world in galleries from Tokyo to New York and Geneva; she’s also created in-situ performances and installations so the public can observe her and her robotic collaborators at work.

It was a research fellowship at MIT’s Media Lab that introduced her to robotics,providing her with a way to combine art and technology (since childhood, she’d been equally fascinated by coding and drawing). At MIT, she created her first DOUG (Drawing Operations Unit, Generation One) robot which she taught to draw and paint with her, uploading her gestures to its hard-drive. The latest version, Generation Four, is infinitely more complex, responding to her brainwave patterns: the exemplification of “embodied AI”, whereby robots and artificial intelligence move beyond replication and mimicry to become full-fledged collaborators. 

Her audio-visually enhanced lecture performance at Sónar+D 2022 will allow her to demonstrate her own creations and explore the context in which she works.