[MUSIC PLAYING]
TIMOTHY JORDAN: I'm Timothy Jordan,
and we're honored to have renowned artist Sougwen Chung
here to talk about her work.
Welcome.
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Hi.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Now I've been looking
forward to your performance here at I/O.
And I'd like to talk about it.
But first how about some background?
When did you start working with robots and why?
SOUGWEN CHUNG: That's a great question.
I get asked that all the time.
I started working with robots about five years ago.
I've been kind of a digital nomad.
I learned to code when I was quite young.
And I got really interested in ways
to take what's present inside the simulation of the computer
into the physical world.
So I started with a really simple drawing collaboration
with my first robotic arm.
And it's just taken off ever since.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: How has the experience of, say,
human machine collaboration changed
your process as an artist?
SOUGWEN CHUNG: You know, I think about that a lot.
Because I think it has changed it quite significantly.
I've gotten more accustomed to chaos, to put it mildly.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Things going not the way you expect?
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Yeah, there's a lot of erratic emergent
behavior or assigned attributed behavior
to working with these machines that really got me
outside of my comfort zone from just
my simple drawing practice.
I think there's something really gestural and cognitive
about mark making.
That when you do that with a robotic articulated unit it--
yeah, there's a lot of new surprises.
I'd like to think of working with these machines
as a creative catalyst.
So that ends up being quite inspiring for me.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Interesting.
All right, let's talk about the performance a little bit.
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Sure, yeah.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Now, it was beautiful and elegant.
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Thank you.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: I expected that part, right?
Because I looked at your work online.
What I didn't expect was something completely different.
That your relationship with the robots felt--
if I can say-- gentle and familial,
like they were family.
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Yeah, they pretty much are at this point.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: I mean, tell me about that.
How much of what you're doing about the art
is about that relationship rather than the marks
that you're making?
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Yeah, definitely.
So I implicate the tool as a collaborator.
And I think I frame it as a collaboration
because we want to facilitate kind, generous collaborations
in the world between humans to humans.
And I think when I regard these machines as my collaborators
it's a way of just creating a more empathetic model.
In this context it's behavioral empathy.
But when I'm onstage performing with these robots
I think it's very much me and them and this captive audience.
And that mutual reliance and co-creation
ends up spurring a very emotional connection with them.
And I think that we've evolved--
like, my process has evolved significantly
with this collaborative work.
And they have as well.
I think it's a positive way of slanting anthropomorphism
that's just been really inspiring for the work.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Did you have to do anything
to build that relationship like hanging out
with them outside of work?
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Yeah, we get a few beers every now and then.
Honestly there's so much vitality and vulnerability when
doing these performances that we've kind of been in this
together-- with the risk of sounding a bit cheesy--
has made it feel like a really close connection.
In addition to the robotic arms I've
been designing a multi-robotic system that's actually
a series of 20 painting robots that
also is a articulation of this robotic form
in a different way.
Instead of one to one it's one to many.
And that is a totally different relationship.
It's almost like a natural swarm that I'm really excited about.
So that reframes the relationship too.
And it's like embodied kinetic sculpture.
That's only possible in today's moment.
And that really excites me.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: That's really cool.
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Thanks.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: OK, the themes of the work
that you performed here.
Mimicry, memory, and future speculations.
How did you land on those?
SOUGWEN CHUNG: So the mimicry was the first generation.
I call my robots Doug.
Because the project is named--
let's just drop the formalities and call them what they are.
I started the project and it's called Drawing Operations Unit
Generation One was focused on mimicry.
And that was DOUG One.
And it's sort of grown over time.
It's mimicry, memory, and future speculations
because those are the three chapters of this evolving
generational project.
So I'm really excited about the third.
Because it shows multi-robotic collaboration
alongside my human drawing agency.
And that's very much where the work is headed.
Towards a more collaborative, more collective idea.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Is there a fourth generation
you have in mind?
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Yeah, there is.
Well, the third generation is actually
the multi-robotic system which is the painting ones.
But there's a fourth generation that I can't talk about yet.
But it'll be coming soon.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Awesome, well I look forward to it.
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Yeah, I'm excited to share it.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: The score for the work by Aquarian.
How did that contribute to the raw work.
SOUGWEN CHUNG: It contributed so much.
Aquarian has been a good friend of mine for quite a while.
And does some incredible music that is actually quite--
it's brilliant.
I think I was describing it earlier as it's futuristic
but also taps into this nostalgia about jungle and drum
and bass that's really, really interesting.
I sort of asked him to come up with the score for me.
And discussed with him about the themes I'd
like him to interpret.
So he really came up with a beautiful, melodic work
that really adds so much to the piece.
We were really excited to collaborate with
and use the 40 sound system from Monome
and spatialize this work.
One component of the performance that we did--
especially for I/O-- was the integration of a contact mic
component.
So in the beginning my drawing gestures
actually form architectural sound throughout the space.
And it was really cool to control the universe
of the performance like that.
So we were very excited about it and hope to do again soon.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: That's awesome.
OK, one more question--
and I have to ask this.
What's the biggest surprise your robot partner has ever
given you in a performance?
SOUGWEN CHUNG: I like your verbiage with that.
Because I do think about it as giving
of the artistic behavior.
I think it's been incredibly surprising.
I think one of the reasons I've been working with neural nets
is its native ability to generate
non-human, unexpected behaviors.
It's been a really interesting way of looking at my own work.
Because I train all my neural nets on my own drawings
to re-examine the type of work I do.
And see how it feels to be articulated by a unit.
So I think it's constantly surprising me.
Which is probably not the answer you're looking for.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: I don't know, I think that's a great answer.
SOUGWEN CHUNG: I will say what I do
find surprising about the duets is not only the robot's output,
but the response to it has been really interesting.
And it's really taken off a lot of speculative questions
about technology and philosophy.
And sort of what it means to make work as an artist today.
So that's been the most surprising connection
that this performance has created for me.
TIMOTHY JORDAN: Thank you for that.
And thanks for sharing your vision and your art with us
here at I/O '19.
SOUGWEN CHUNG: Thank you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]