Emissaries

Emissary in the Squat of Gods
Emissary Forks At Perfection
Emissary Sunsets The Self

2015-2017

Synopsis

Emissaries is a trilogy of simulations about cognitive evolution, past and future, and the ecological conditions that shape it. It is composed of three interconnected simulations, each centered on the life of an emissary who is caught between unraveling old realities and emerging weird ones.

Emissary in the Squat of Gods simulates an ancient community living with the threat of a volcanic eruption. We follow Young Ancient [Emissary], a child who experiences the first flicker of narrative consciousness, threatening the authority of vocal hallucinations that guide the decisions of her pre-conscious community.

Emissary Forks At Perfection takes place many thousands of years in the future, the volcano now a fertile Darwinian playground managed by an AI. During its post-mortem analysis on humankind, AI resurrects the remains of a 21st century human celebrity into this unrecognizable world and sends Shiba [Emissary], a canine superpet, to extract one final impression of man under stress.

Emissary Sunsets the Self simulates the peak days of AI, now evolved into an oceanic substance and merged with the landscape to form a Sentient Atoll. Tired of its god-like agency, it begins to provoke radical mutations in search of a generative death and sends a Puddle of itself into the Atoll’s bio layer. We follow AI Puddle [Emissary] as it drones a local Wormleaf anemone and navigates the sensations of its new terrestrial umwelt, only to be confronted by the prejudice of the Oomen— a garish population engineered to immunize the landscape from monstrous deviations.

Exhibition History

Press & Interviews on Emissaries

Production Credits

Emissary in the Squat of Gods (live simulation, 2015) Created by Ian Cheng, Producer Veronica So, Technical Director Samuel Eng, Modeling & Rigging Joshua Planz, Modeling Breht O'Hearn, Sound Design Greg Heffernan, Technical Artists Mark Fingerhut + Ian Faris, Animation Jeremy Riccione, Content Designer Jessica Wilson, Concept Artist Andrej Ujhazy, Choreography Madeline Hollander, Mocap Performances Jeremy Pheiffer + David Yijae, Mocap Services Edit1 + Xsens, Story Consultant Sean Manning + Alexander Benaim, Published by Metis Suns.

Emissary Forks At Perfection (live simulation, 2015-2016) Created by Ian Cheng, Producer Veronica So, Technical Director Samuel Eng, Modeling & Rigging Joshua Planz, Modeling Breht O'Hearn + Aaron Bohenick, Sound Design Greg Heffernan, Animation Chad Waldschmidt, Graphics Programmer Chris Clapis, Content Designer Jessica Wilson, Technical Artists Yang Wang + Zhenzhen Qi, Story Consultant Sean Manning + Alexander Benaim, Published by Metis Suns.

Emissary Sunsets the Self (live simulation, 2017) Created by Ian Cheng, Producer Veronica So, Technical Director Samuel Eng, AI Development Porrith Suong + Jay Suong, Modeling & Rigging Joshua Planz, Sound Design Steve Green, Animation Chad Waldschmidt, Concept Artist Andrej Ujhazy, Content Designer Jessica Wilson, Technical Artists Yang Wang + Zhenzhen Qi, Graphics Programmer James Cao, Story Consultant Andrew Chan Gladstone + Alexander Benaim, Published by Metis Suns.

Emissaries Park Guide (pamphlet, 2017) Created by Ian Cheng, Producer Veronica So, Graphic Design Scott Langer & Sunny Park, Published by Metis Suns.

Emissaries Guide To Worlding (catalog, 2018) Text & Images by Ian Cheng, Contributions by Hans Ulrich Obrist + Nora Khan + Ben Vickers, Graphic Design Bureau Borsche, Glyphs by Andrej Ujhazy, Edited by Rebecca Lewin + Joseph Constable + Veronica So, Published by Serpentine Galleries + Koenig Books, Produced by Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, ISBN 978-1-908617-50-7.