Life After BOB
The Chalice Study2021-2022
What if AI could do the job of living your life better than you?


Synopsis
Life After BOB is a 50min anime movie built in the Unity game engine.
Life After BOB (LAB) imagines a future world in which the internet extends into our nervous system, psychotropic foods unify physical and psychic realities, AI entities are permitted to co-inhabit human minds, and anomie reigns.
In episode one ~ The Chalice Study ~ neural engineer Dr. Wong has installed an experimental AI named BOB (“Bag of Beliefs”) into the nervous system of his 10-year-old daughter Chalice. Designed to guide Chalice through the challenges of growing up in a volatile world, BOB confronts more and more of the conflicts in Chalice’s life on her behalf. As Dr. Wong begins to favor the BOB side of his daughter, and as BOB threatens to do the job of living Chalice’s life better than she can, Chalice wonders: what is left for her classic human self to do?
LAB has been presented live in real-time, featuring an interactive WORLDWATCHING mode for viewers to dive into any moment of the movie and explore the world and lore of LAB. Watch a rendered version of LAB below (subtitles in English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Korean).
Official launch site lifeafterbob.io
Exhibition History
- 2024 MMCA ~ What An Artificial World ~ CheongJu
- 2023 HEK ~ Collective Worldbuilding ~ Basel
- 2023 Pilar Corrias ~ Thousand Lives ~ London
- 2022 Light Art Space ~ Life After BOB ~ Berlin
- 2022 Leeum Samsung Museum of Art ~ WORLDING ~ Seoul
- 2021 The Shed ~ Life After BOB ~ New York
- 2021 LUMA Westbau ~ Life After BOB ~ Zurich
- 2021 LUMA Arles ~ Life After BOB ~ Arles
Press & Interviews on LAB
- 2023 Plinth, When AI Grows Up, by Gary Zhexi Zhang
- 2022 Spike Art Magazine, Empathy is an Open Circuit: An Interview with Ian Cheng, by Ido Nahari
- 2022 The Stoa, The Art of Worlding: Creating the World You Wish to Inhabit w/ Ian Cheng, by Peter Limberg
- 2022 Maquette, A Coefficient of Luck, by Alex Zafiris
- 2022 Right Click Save, Can AI unlock the Unconscious?, by Ann Marie Alanes
- 2022 Artnet, Artist Ian Cheng Channeled Anxieties About A.I. and Fatherhood Into a High-Tech Yet Deeply Personal New Film, by Taylor Dafoe
- 2022 Studio International, What’s the worst possible dad I could be?, by Emily Spicer
- 2022 The Quietus, Re-Worlding: Ian Cheng’s AI Art Hopes To Flip Your Life Script, by Amah-Rose Abrams
- 2022 Wallpaper, Artist Ian Cheng explores the technological and aesthetic potential of AI, by Will Jennings
- 2022 032c, A Great Anomic Era: Ian Cheng, by Henry Levinson
- 2022 Elephant Art, How the Ideas of Eric Berne Shaped My AI Creations, by Ravi Ghosh
- 2021 Frieze, Ian Cheng on Technology’s Optimized Futures, by Travis Diehl
- 2021 Art and Obsolescence, Episode 006: Ian Cheng, by Ben Fino-Raden
- 2021 Apollo Magazine, Apollo 40 Under 40 Podcast, by Gabrielle Schwarz
- 2021 ArtNews, Ian Cheng’s Life After BOB, by Angelica Frey
- 2021 Art and Object, Life After B.O.B: Ian Cheng’s Wild 21st Century Take on Free Will, by Howard Halle
- 2021 New York Times, Very Personal Computing: In Artist's New Work AI Meets Fatherhood, by Frank Rose
Worldwatching Mode
Images













Production Credits
Written & Directed by: Ian Cheng ~ Produced by: Veronica So ~ Technical Producer: Ivaylo Getov ~ Animation Producer: Nick Sung ~ Director of Photography: Eric Yue ~ Editor: Jess Fulton ~ Animation Supervisor: Valerie Scheiber ~ Sound Design: Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr ~ Music by: Brian Reitzell
Voice Performances
Chalice Wong, BOB: Poonam Basu ~ Chalice (20), Chyna: Cherami Leigh ~
Dr. James Moonweed Wong: Dana Lee ~ Chairman Ava: Gwendoline Yeo ~
Zoroaster: Sean Patton ~ Orlando de Blair, Commander Alan: Aly Mawji ~
Princess Wendy (voice of ZIM): Jennifer Swanner ~ Sister San: Poonam Basu ~
ZIM Engineers: Ivaylo Getov ~ Humanistas: Jennifer Swanner, Gensho Tasaka
Animation
Lead Animation: Paul Wood, Corey Stisser, Jenna Jaillet ~ Mocap Editor
& Layout: David Peng ~ Additional Animation: Lauren Assadofsky, Craig
Maras, Rob Somers, David Cohen ~ Movement Design & Choreography:
Madeline Hollander ~ Mocap Performance: Caroline Bloom ~ Facial Mocap
Performance: Ivaylo Getov, Veronica So ~ Character Rigging:
Chris Nelder ~ Mocap & Maya Pipeline: Twisted Mountain Animation,
Kerie Green, Fraser Sunderland
Art Department
Production Design: Elle Michalka, James Noellert ~ Character Design:
Alice Lemma, Sophie Li ~ Lead Concept Artist: Linnea Sterte ~ Additional
Concept Design: Jonathan Djob Nkondo, James Paterson, Jay Quercia, Alvin
Fai, Eran Hilleli ~ Character Modeling: Maritza Louis ~ Lead Environment
Artist: Shuruq Tramontini Additional 3D Modeling: Caco Peguero, Shanaz
Byrne, Breht O’Hearn, Travis Ragsdale ~ Title and Poster Design: Vasilis
Marmatakis ~ ZIM Corporate Design: Kenneth Cheng
Story Department
Head of Story: Nick Sung ~ Story Artist: Kallen Chi ~
Story Consultants: Anthony Weintraub, Adam Thirlwell
Unity Real-time Cinematics Development
Technical Director: Ivaylo Getov ~ Lead Unity Artist: Shuruq Tramontini ~
Technical Supervisor: Corbin Ordel ~ Graphics Developer: Nicholas Shelton ~
Developers: Samuel Eng, Yang Wang ~ VFX Designer: Sam Loeschen ~
VFX Artist: Ryan Zeng ~ Additional VFX: Rui An ~ Crowd Animation:
Corey Stisser ~ Procedural Wardrobe Stylist: Veronica So ~ Unity Tools Developer:
Cezar Mocan
Unity Interactive Development
Interactive Design: FLOAT ~ Wiki Developer: Alden Rivendale Jones ~ World Watching Developer:
Oren Shoham World Watching Artist: Shuruq Tramontini ~ UX Artist: Samuel Eng ~ UX Developer:
Cezar Mocan ~ Additional Wiki
Design: Sixing Xu ~ Interactive Assistant
Pei Barth Wu
Sound Department
Re-recording Mix: Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr ~ Surround Mastering Mix:
Michael Barry ~ Sound Assistant: Jiho Kim ~ ADR Engineering: Ivaylo Getov ~
Additional ADR Engineering: Matt Mehlan, Tyler Swanner, Nick Chirumbolo
~ Sound Post Production Supervisor: Traithep Wongpaiboon ~ Foley Recordists: Jirapong Mingkwan, Narongsak
Deetae ~ Foley Artists: Thanasak Julakate, Supawit Bhovijitra, Narongsak
Deetae, Amornpong Thokaeonopparat ~ Foley Editors: Chalida
Buranabunpot, Nusorn Thongkhum, Napatz Singkarat ~ Foley Production
Coordinators: Veerin Kongsuwan, Aoun Patiporn, Chatlada Saijaioub ~
Score Mixer: Kenneth Sluiter ~ String Arrangements: Roger Joseph Manning Jr. ~
Guitar: Dave Harrington ~ Vocals: Hazel Reitzell ~ Instrument Builder: Chris Banta
Additional Production
Associate Producer: Kyrha Lever ~
Production Advisor: Laura Lupton ~
Additional Production: Metis Suns LLC
Co-Commissioned By
The Shed, New York ~
Luma Foundation, Arles ~
Light Art Space, Berlin ~
Additional Support by Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul ~
Research developed with Berggruen Institute, The Transformations of The Human ~
Production developed with Gladstone Gallery, New York & Pilar Corrias Gallery, London
Thanks
Barbara Gladstone, Pilar Corrias, Emma Enderby, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Alessandra Gomez, Alex Poots, Maja Hoffmann, Vassilis Oikonomopoulos, Luz Gyalui, Amira Gad, Liz Stumpf, Bettina Kames, Gina Lee, Nicolas Berggruen, Tobias Rees, Alissa Bennett, Marie Krauss, Ben Vickers, Venkatesh Rao, Sean Manning, Ron Martin, Steve Zapata, Amelia Rose Blaire, Bryan Dechart, Dean Panaro, David Kaplan, Lucie Elwes, Matthew Rogers, Tina Rogers, John So, Jenny Wong, Diana Rose, Jonathan Rose, Kenneth Cheng, Chukyee Cheng, Rachel Rose
Welcome To This Life
Eden Rose Cheng, Daphne Noellert, Matilda Steely-Getov, James Jaillet, Jovian Rogers, Milo Mecca, Silas Rose Cheng
Production Drawings
LAB DRAWINGS
2019-2023. Double-sided, 8.5inch x 11inch, ink on grey stock.
LAB First Tract
LAB began as a 16 page comic published in limited edition in 2019. It served as the inspiration for ideating the world of LAB and writing The Chalice Study.