The Fusion of Human and Machine in Art: Sougwen Chung’s Collaborative Creations
A New Era of Artistic Expression
Sougwen Chung, a Canadian artist, is pushing the boundaries of creativity by merging traditional drawing techniques with artificial intelligence. According to Sofian Audry, an artist and scholar at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Chung’s approach is unique in that it combines performance and machine drawing simultaneously.
A Meeting of Human and Machine Perspectives
Chung’s goal is to "deepen and expand" traditional methods by combining human and machine perspectives. This meeting of minds took place in January 2025 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where Chung presented Spectral, a performative art installation that featured painting by robotic arms guided by AI.
The Birth of a New Art Form
The artwork emerges not only in the finished piece but also in the in-between moments. Chung explains, "My goal isn’t to replace traditional methods but to deepen and expand them, allowing art to arise from a genuine meeting of human and machine perspectives."
The Role of AI in Art
Chung’s work shows how AI can move beyond being just an artistic tool or threat to become a collaborator. In Spectral, AI combines data from earlier works with real-time input from an electroencephalogram (EEG) to guide the robotic arms’ movements. Chung’s alpha state drives the robot’s behavior, translating their internal experience into tangible, spatial gestures.
The Power of Live Performance
Through AI, robots can perform in unexpected ways. Creating art in real-time allows these surprises to become part of the process, enabling a real-time relationship between the artist, machine, and audience. "Live performance is a crucial component of my work," Chung says. "It creates a real-time relationship between me, the machine, and an audience, allowing everyone to witness the system’s unpredictabilities and creative possibilities."
A Life of Code and Music
Chung grew up in Canada, surrounded by music and code. Their father was a trained opera singer, and their mother a computer programmer. They were among the first on the block to have a computer, and Chung was captivated by the internet’s "nascent, optimistic frontier." Their early works, mostly ink drawings on paper, were sprawling and abstract. However, they began to embrace performance, and in 2015, they joined the MIT Media Lab as a research fellow.
The Birth of DOUG 1
Chung created a robotic arm that could hold a pencil or paintbrush, adding an overhead camera and computer vision software to analyze the video stream of Chung drawing and guide the arm’s movements. The robot, named Drawing Operations Unit: Generation 1 (DOUG 1), was designed to mimic Chung’s work. However, it didn’t quite work as planned. The arm made small, unpredictable movements, creating sketches that were similar to Chung’s but not identical. These "mistakes" became part of the creative process.
Conclusion
Chung’s work demonstrates the potential for AI to enhance traditional art forms, rather than replace them. By embracing the unpredictability of machine-generated art, Chung has found a new way to collaborate with machines, creating a unique fusion of human and machine perspectives.
FAQs
- What is the goal of Sougwen Chung’s art?
- To deepen and expand traditional methods by combining human and machine perspectives.
- What is the focus of Chung’s artwork?
- The artwork emerges not only in the finished piece but also in the in-between moments.
- What is the role of AI in Chung’s work?
- AI combines data from earlier works with real-time input from an electroencephalogram (EEG) to guide the robotic arms’ movements.
- What is the significance of live performance in Chung’s work?
- It creates a real-time relationship between the artist, machine, and audience, allowing everyone to witness the system’s unpredictabilities and creative possibilities.
