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Empty Rider

Lawrence Lek
Switzerland / United Kingdom
15'

EMPTY RIDER is a single-channel video installation that extends Lawrence Lek’s use of cinematic language and simulated environments to explore the architecture of control. Developed using computer-generated animation, the work follows the trial of Vanguard, a sentient self-driving car accused of an attack on its human operator.

EMPTY RIDER hovers over a simulated digital space where an AI system’s criminal trial unfolds like a courtroom drama. The dispute concerns a self-driving vehicle accident that resulted in casualties. The arguments unfold with the characteristic lack of passion of a Chat GPT response. The words are strung together in an order that barely mimics language, by a system that has stored everything, not interested in convincing nor in defending itself, but rather in apathetically reciting the result of a false process of consciousness. More than analysing what kind of responsibility artificial intelligence is capable of, Lek’s film shows us how futile this dilemma is in the first place in the face of a synthetic system. (Emil Vasilache)

Saturday, September 27, 18:00

Cinema Elvire Popesco
Tickets

Lawrence Lek

Lawrence Lek is a London-based artist working in moving image, digital animation, and installation. Often staged as immersive environments, his projects take the form of cinematic virtual worlds that explore technology, memory, and the architecture of real and imagined space. Lek studied at Trinity College, Cambridge; the Architectural Association, London; The Cooper Union, New York; and completed his PhD at the Royal College of Art. His accolades include the LACMA Art + Technology Lab Grant, Jerwood/FVU Award, VH Award Grand Prix, and the Frieze Artist Award. In 2024, he was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in AI.

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