Conversation with Lawrence Lek (Geomancer)

Following the screening of Geomancer, Lawrence Lek and Julia Kaganskiy will discuss the ideas behind the film, explain the video game technology used to make it, and speculate on the sinofuturistic world populated by AIs that the film depicts.

British artist Lawrence Lek will visit Medialab Matadero to present in person his installation around his film Geomancer in Nave 0. At 6:00 p.m. we will enjoy a joint viewing of the 48-minute science fiction animation piece that narrates the creative awakening and existential struggle of an artificial intelligence. Then, around 7:00 pm, the artist and the curator of the exhibition cycle Imaginarios Sintéticos, Julia Kaganskiy, will discuss with the audience about the piece that closes the cycle and the implications of post-human consciousness in a world governed by AI.

Geomancer (2017) follows the journey of Geo, a sentient weather satellite who returns to Earth to fulfil his dream of becoming an artist. Set in Singapore on the eve of the island nation's centennial in 2065, Geo wanders the eerily desolate landscape, exploring the glittering marinas, museums and casinos, only encountering other AIs along the way. Longing to escape the limitations of being a mind without a body, Geo grapples with existential questions about the nature of life, death, consciousness and feelings.

Lawrence Lek is a London-based artist working with moving image, performance, video games and installation. Drawing on his background in architecture, Lek's work explores world-building as a form of multi-dimensional collage, incorporating elements found in both material and virtual worlds to develop narratives that reflect on alternative histories and possible futures. His works are known for their portrayal of nomadic characters inhabiting technological landscapes, and for exploring themes of identity, memory, control and agency. In his ongoing Sinofuturist universe, which began with the 2016 video essay Sinofuturism (1839-2046 AD), Lek explores how the interplay between geopolitics and technology shapes a vision of the world to come that combines China and its diaspora with artificial intelligence. Blurring geographical boundaries and the boundary between natural and artificial beings, Lek's work demands that viewers confront the contradictions that humanity may face in the near future. His most recent solo exhibitions include NOX, LAS Art Foundation, Berlin, Germany (2023) Post-Sinofuturism, ZiWU The Bund, Shanghai, China (2022); Ghostwriter, CCA Prague (2019); Farsight Freeport, HeK, Basel (2019); Nøtel, UKR, Essen (2019); 2065, K11, Hong Kong (2018). In 2021, Lek received the LACMA Art + Technology Lab grant and the Grand Prize of the 4th VH Award. 

Julia Kaganskiy is a curator and cultural strategist for art, science and technology. She is currently curator-at-large at LAS Art Foundation in Berlin and was previously founding director of NEW INC, the first museum-run cultural incubator, an initiative of the New Museum in New York. She has curated numerous exhibitions and undertaken new art and science commissions with Borusan Contemporary, Science Gallery, TRANSFER Gallery, Nokia Bell Labs, Accenture Labs, Eyebeam Center for Art & Technology and others.

Schedule:

18:00 h. Film screening

19:00 h. Conversation with the artist